56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress that signed the Declaration of Independence have gone on the record to say Mr. Thirty Pences actions have all the earmarks of a traitor.
Waltz is already on his way out, it seems. Rubio is the front man at State, but Witkoff is the real player. I'm not sure about Bondi. She talks a good game, but the whole Epstein release was very disappointing. Same for the Kennedy release. Patel is unknown at this point--other than sending DC agents to the Indian reservations.
I hope Waltz is out soon. He is a Zionist-sucking neocon. Rubio is too.
Bondi and Kash are TBD, but they seem to have been compromised in some manner... Kash was going to take down Schiff... and yes, the Epstein, 911 and JFK files release was very likely stopped by AIPAC, as Israel was deeply involved in all three.
Israel and AIPAC seem to control Trump too... he is leaning towards war with Iran, which would be a bigger disaster by far than his nutty tariffs.
I always respected Thomas Sowell and was sad to hear his commentary on the tariffs. He is fearful of them causing another depression. This time I hope he's wrong.
I’m reading Sowell’s Basic Economics now, and it’s fantastic. However, one of the things that I’m noticing is that one’s judgement of the “best” economic move is based largely upon one’s end goal.
From what I’m reading (and I’m admittedly brand new at this) Sowell prioritizes the lowest price on items, period. With open markets (which we don’t really have) it is definitely cheaper to produce certain items like coffee, sugar, produce, etc. in areas where they naturally grow and then export them. But most of us see the importance of rebuilding the American economy for reasons which include, but aren’t limited to, economics. Trump has a different end game, which will hopefully lead to more open markets that are able to react more normally without government manipulation.
Anywho, I’ll have to track down Sowell’s response and check it out. I have been thinking about him as I’ve watched this tariff news develop.
Well and I can't help but think low prices are not necessarily the be all end all for everything, perhaps groceries excluded. Cheap often does not jive with 'quality' - hence we replace appliances (which in real dollars are actually cheaper than they used to be) every 5-7 years instead of the 30 years we got from our Maytag washer that my husband's grandma gave him when he graduated college in 1985. My mom's year old coffeemaker just shot craps. Yes, it was cheap. Closets in 1950's era homes were a fraction of the walk in closets that are now size of my bedroom growing up. I have too many friends to count who can't park their cars in their garages due to them being full of either 'toys' or stuff they rarely or never use. Storage units popping up like mushrooms all over my town. Homes built today over twice the size they were in the 50's and 60's even as average family size has shrunk. https://www.newser.com/story/225645/average-size-of-us-homes-decade-by-decade.html
There were 4 of us girls who grew up in a 1000 sq ft home with my mom and dad. We survived. (although sharing a room with my messy sister was the source of more than a few conflicts, haha)
I am guilty too - I could go a month without doing laundry and still have clothes in my closet. But we CAN use our garage to park our cars, lol.
Bottom line the vast majority of us have way too much crap we don't really need or use. And don't get me started on all of the $5+ coffee places out there when most actually own a coffee pot that makes coffee for a fraction of that. There are 4 within a mile of my home and they all have lines at the drive throughs when I pass by. Higher prices may hurt in the short run but if we just focused on 'needs' over 'wants' we can get through this.
So right. I've been buying clean fish from small fishermen via the Sitka Seafood Market for several years, and even though it's expensive I couldn't be happier. More recently started buying meat from the Seven Sons regenerative farm in Indiana. I'm sure there are more sources out there, and hope their number is increasing. It costs a bit more to get healthy food, but it's worth it in the long run. Bonus: you get to feel virtuous!
My husband and I always roll our eyes when we drive past houses that have 75K worth of cars sitting in front of the garage and 3K worth of CRAP inside the garage.
When we moved back to the states in 1989 my dad said he would buy us a Whirlpool washer and dryer if we had a baby. Being the compliant daughter that I am, I got the washer and dryer and a year later along came the baby. The washer and dryer bit the dust about 8 years ago and I cried as they were hauled to the dump. My son will be 35 soon....he is still in good shape. It was a good deal.
Yes a guy in our neighborhood posted on our neighborhood FB page with a picture of his almost brand new car that was stolen out of his driveway overnight - probably a $50K car easy. I wanted to post (but didn't) saying 'what was it doing in the driveway? You have a garage!? At least half of the homes in our middle class neighborhood don't park their cars in their garages - I laugh as I back out of my (heated) garage on mornings they are out scraping ice/snow/frost off their running to warm up cars. Guess it's petty - our next door neighbors do have 4 kids and he has a handyman biz so I understand their 'having a lot of stuff' stage of life, but a lot of these folks don't even have kids still at home and still have full garages.
Well at least it's useful stuff. 😆 One neighbor was a professional magician and he kept all his show supplies + he used to put out a huge Halloween display that kids would come for blocks around to see. He retired from all that and sold off all that stuff, telling me, now we can finally park our cars in the garage! Five years later, cars are still sitting in the driveway - a squirrel got in under one of his cars and chewed up a bunch of wiring, complained it cost him $3 grand to fix. Don't know what's in that garage now!?
IN 11 years I have gone through 2 LG refrigerators. I am done with them. I just purchased a Whirlpool. I was looking at GE, but apparently China bought them.
There are no appliances made in America anymore. The last great hold out, kitchen aide, sold to whirlpool,which is all made in china. They are probably assembled here but all parts made in china. Sucks. Give me thirty year old kitchen aides and I’ll get another thirty years out of them
Where I live, the hard water is so bad that it destroys appliances. My condo was not built with a copper coil installed, so I am not able to install a water softener without spending thousands of dollars (and my crazy neighbor’s approval to dig under her garage, which is one of those garages full of crap mentioned in these comments.) so I’ve had to replace dishwasher and washing machine, and the ice maker in my fridge crusted over a while ago, so I just use ice trays.
Coffee makers only last a year with this water, so I have water delivered and only use the filtered water for coffee… my Nespresso machine has so far lasted 6 years, and I occasionally run the cleaner fluid through it. Much cheaper than Starbucks and I can make my own caramel macchiato at home.
The only thing I can do is add a filter to the output, like a shower head. I’ve had two different water filtration guys out to look at it. During construction, they needed to add a copper coil next to the water heater, and the original buyer did not add that option. (The same buyer selected granite countertops that look exactly like a chocolate chip protein bar. 😆) So they would need to run a pipe to the water source, which would require digging up concrete and going under the garage next door. That’s the only way I could add a filtration system to the overall water line that would run to washing machine upstairs, dishwasher downstairs, and all throughout the house.
I added the filtered water delivery, so I use that for drinking, cooking, coffee, etc., but that’s the only (affordable) option. It’s a real problem, as the hard water corrodes everything—I’ve had to completely replace the parts in the toilets, and all the other appliances have had to be replaced. I throw a half cup of Borax in the washer with each load, which helps a little bit (clothes washed in this water come out stiff and scratchy, even with fabric softener added.)
I was talking to a restaurant owner in my neighborhood and he invested thousands in a water filtration system in his restaurant to protect his investment in appliances.
Best car I had was a 35-year-old beetle. It was reliable.
And pretty. It got stolen.
Then I had (living in Europe) a Saab, Land Rover, Peugeot, Renault, Citroen. The LR was pretty good. ALL the others were unreliable expensive disasters.
Great points and I agree. Although personally I enjoy going to fancy coffee shops and having a nice pastry and coffee. Sure I can make coffee at home but it’s not the same. I can’t make a latte easily and sometimes I just like to go out 🤷♀️ It’s definitely not a need but that’s ok too, it’s like going out for lunch or dinner, for me, since I rarely do that. At least it’s not buying extra stuff I need a storage unit for 😉😆
But yes, price isn’t the be all and end all, for sure.
Another thing Sowell doesn’t seem to address is the lopsided nature of these tariffs. I can’t really support us having few or no tariffs when everyone else has numerous heavy tariffs for our exported goods. How is that fair or how is that helping our economy and our people??
Oh I meet people for coffee - both business and personal. Just not every day.
But many people make that a daily routine. My mom's caregiver would show up every day with a huge Starbucks coffee and then complained to her about having trouble paying her bills. My mom told her she could drink her coffee for free and that she needed to quit wasting money at Starbucks and save that money for her bills, lol. She just laughed and said she needed to treat herself in the mornings.
See, that’s the issue. Not having fancy coffee, having it every day when you are having trouble paying your bills. She needs a good dose of Dave Ramsey lol 😆
There's also the environmental impact of all the cheap garbage that ends up in a landfill in a very short time period. I sometimes think the global warming hysteria has been used to distract from our production of solid waste, a very real problem.
Agree. We did have a local place that carried parts and did repairs on all sorts of things and we do try to repair vs replace when we can. But the repair place went under (after 60 years in business) in 2021 - sad - I suppose a victim of our throw-away culture.
That book is currently on my desk and I've been reading it to help my son with his Econ requirement for high school. I greatly respect Thomas Sowell too but the thing I'm just now beginning to appreciate is how for all the talk about "free trade," we actually haven't had that in a long time. I will have to read what Sowell is saying about the tariffs.
Yes. I don't believe Reagan meant "free trade" to mean what it became. I believe he meant "fair trade" for both parties involved, not the host (the USA) getting sucked dry by the internal and external parasites and leaches.
If charity begins at home, so then prosperity as well. Producing high value manufactures domestically is not a mortal sin, it is the health and wealth of a nation. It is the future.
All the 'free trade' talk was Globalist nonsense cultivated in their schools and incestuous organization. Something had to be done about the massive trade imbalance. It was so bad that America had nothing further to lose. America was close to a total collapse.
Increasing manufacturing here in the US is important for things like medications. We really shouldn't be relying on China for antibiotics! Some things just mean more when it comes to National security, and override other interests.
I'm a Thomas Sowell (and Rand Paul) fan and generally trust their takes on the "current thing." That said, I also remind myself: No one possesses a crystal ball. Everything is opinion. There is no such thing as perfection. Only time will tell.
I use to be a Rand Paul Libertarian. But that movement has just turned into a free for all. Open borders and full globalism? That destroys cultures and societies. We need to preserve and rebuild what we still have left of that.
It's difficult, especially I've found for the older crowd to which Sowell belongs (I think here of my 80 year old MIL too), to evaluate systems as they actually are as opposed to the way they once were or even maybe should be.
I believe that is his background...he is an economist. He was originally a communist in this ideology until he began to look at it through the lens of reality and then he became a capitalist.
Interesting! I should have researched. Well, I hope that it's one of those situations where he's wrong or sort of wrong, like Noam Chomsky on vaccines.... where he totally lost the entire plot. But it sounds to me like Sowell really has his head screwed on right, so now I am really watching closely to see what this tariffs situation shakes out like.
I have a friend who is very worried about his 401K as he's newly retired, he says it might be decimated. But I don't really understand the reason.
The worst thing to do is panic and sell when the stock prices are low. In time, the market will come back and hopefully it will come back better than before. I'm not a financial expert and anything I say isn't worth the price of a cup of coffee.
It seems establishment economists are stuck in the status quo. They, like the medical establishment, don’t like disruption nor disrupters like Trump. Their minds are closed & they have a fear of the unknown, new way of governing. This “trade war” is the only way to begin righting the ship.
He was correct on tariffs, IMO... just because we bought a ton of stuff from overseas, after our corporations sold out America and shipped their mfg elsewhere... causing a big trade imbalance... it does not mean that other countries were or are "ripping us off".
He's a libertarian type. Anything that smacks of being in a group, like protecting our economy, smells like fascism to him. So free trade between consenting individuals is what he believes in, even if there is collateral damage.
The flaw in that idea is that "free trade" between individuals in the US must follow all sorts of laws and regulations that do not apply to "free trade" between a US citizen and a citizen of China.
I used to like Grassley, but he seems to be succumbing to all the Fauci flu jabs and becoming a poster child for term limits... 91 years old. Cantwell is no fan of the Constitution, not sure why he is 'allied' with her on this issue...
I am not liking Massie much. I rather he let all this play out before he starts putting barriers up. Congress does vote for what is best for this country, they have been voting party lines with some RINOs voting D.
Canada has roughly the same population as California - just over 1/10 of the USA. We rely on selling (mostly resources) to USA. Close - usually friendly - market.
Just a thought, obviously Sowell is a smart guy but the way conservatives lavish praise on him seems a bit over the top. I've always suspected it's a subconscious form of virtue signaling, "see our hero is a black guy so we can't possibly be racists".
Conservatives have been so mind-manipulated by the media as racists, for decades and decades, that we unconsciously fall all over ourselves to praise black people that happen to think like us. How many white economists can conservatives quote? Not many I suspect.
Senator John Kennedy: “My experience with economists in Washington is that for every economist there is an equal and opposite economist, and they’re both usually wrong.” Another time, he remarked that economic forecasting in Washington “makes those late-night psychic hotlines look respectable.”
You've made a point I'll take time to consider as it's a new perspective for me. I'm not particularly knowledgeable about Sowell, but there are other black conservatives I especially appreciate and I never looked at it this way. So I really will think about what you've said.
However, there are other reasons besides race for people to love someone like Sowell. It's the same reason I love certain of the medical freedom heros who spoke up for us all during covid. It took so. much. courage. I respect that and can never forget it. I've even called them heros just now and it's obviously nothing race related.
So, back to black conservatives. They get the harshest criticism from the left. Stuff that makes me very angry. They get criticized by leftist whites for being too white and everyday uninformed democrat blacks call them traitors in various slang terms. I've watched in shock media videos of the abuse they get. The reason it's shocking to me is that I see the left say they are "anti racist," but they will say far more racist, abusive things about a black conservative than a white one. It's the same strategy as the left used against doctors who spoke against vaccine mandates or advocated for vaccine injured people. Immediately they pulled out every weapon to take these guys out so others would learn from it and be afraid.
They don't want there to be such a thing as a black conservative, so it is making oneself a target to be one. How could we not admire that kind of courage? So I think we instinctively admire a smart black conservative who took all these arrows and kept on going. They are doing for black people what medical freedom heros did for other medical practitioners: making it okay to speak up, showing it can be done. We see and respect that.
It’s not virtue signaling and has nothing to do with race. Read “The Thomas Sowell Reader” and you’ll understand the measure of the man. He’s a national treasure.
Lol, a national treasure. Your own language is exactly the over the top praise I mentioned, you couldn't have made my point more strongly if intended. He's a very smart guy and a deep thinker, but so are about 100,000 other Americans.
I knew people wouldn't be able to process this intellectually and would react emotionally, but it's important people at least consider a few things:
1) Thomas Sowell is intelligent and erudite but he's hardly an oracle. Plenty of just as smart and erudite people take issue with many of his conclusions.
2) Conservatives have been called racists for so long they feel compelled to prove otherwise. Whether it's elevating smart black people to superhuman status, or excusing the behavior of minority criminals, it's done from a position of defensiveness. People don't even realize they are doing it.
The media has so mind-raped people that they cannot make objective evaluations but feel constantly compelled to prove to the world that they aren't what the media says. This makes them mental slaves as they can't think independently and objectively.
Just look at the fuss caused by me merely suggesting Sowell isn't the end all be all that people make him out to be. Doesn't that suggest they are reacting emotionally rather than from a reasoned opinion?
I've noticed this too. And if there ever was a real pandemic in America, it's the pandemic rise in inability to think.
The 'education system' in America long ago abandoned teaching people the basics of how to think precisely because they the master class did not want people thinking. But the unintended consequence of this design is that the so-called leadership class also largely lost the ability to think, and this in inverse proportion to the rise of ideology.
I noticed, for example, that each succeeding generation of the Bush family was dumber than the preceding one. And I read that elite preparatory school were truncating vocabulary under the utilitarian assumption that too rich a vocabulary hindered the ruling class in communicating with the Great Unwashed. And so the aim was no longer a drive to excellence, but the cultivation of mediocrity.
Jeff C - you’re trying waaaaay too hard. Talk about emotional… Just sayin’. Although with your comment “can’t think independently and objectively”, I suspect you’re only interested in stirring up trouble here. In any case, I’ll move on to someone who’s serious.
He is could be considered a national treasure simply for the topics he has been prepared to tackle through the years and the insights he has opened into our culture, immigration, the effect of pandering to race etc - all national obsessions.
No, I'm just saying things that you've never considered and it's causing cognitive dissonance.
You've been told by the Left your entire life that 1) racism is the unpardonable sin and 2) conservatives are racists. Because you unthinkingly accepted #1, you feel compelled to prove #2 is untrue. This is what leads you to make absurd statements like "Thomas Sowell is a national treasure". You do it without even realizing it (hence the cognitive dissonance). Yeah he's a smart guy, but come on.
There is nothing wrong with making observations regarding group behavior and dynamics. It's not "racism" but God-given pattern recognition. It's an objective fact that Asians dominate university admissions and Blacks dominate violent crime stats, you are allowed to notice it and it's not random chance. But this has been weaponized against you as a member of the country's dominant ethnic group (i.e. white Christians). Not only are you not allowed to notice group differences, but at the same time you must feel guilty about them as having caused it and pay restitution. That's why I say people have been mind-raped, people accept without even thinking about the absurdity of it.
When Jeffrey Dahmer was asked why almost all his victims were minorities, he replied with although he was a murderer and a cannibal, he wasn't a racist. In his mind, being a racist was the worse thing possible, sure he killed people and ate them, but he ignored their skin color as (God forbid) he wasn't a racist, that would be awful.
This is the mindset most conservatives are trapped in, which is why they fall all over themselves praising accomplished Blacks (Sowell, Colin Powell, Walter Williams, etc.). They accept the Left's framing and defensively try to refute it without thinking. They make ridiculous statements like, "Liberals are the real racists" without even realizing they are reinforcing the Left's disingenuous premise.
Jeff - Again, you’re trying way too hard on this. You have No idea who I am or how I make decisions or why I think what I think. And your pronouncements such as “making absurd statements” is, in itself, absurd. I really find all of this really obnoxious. I won’t engage with you again.
LOL!! Yes, Jeff is a roach, with a brain as dead as his breath...
I really thought I had read that Sowell had died... I don't ever see him on the tube and I used to see him fairly often... I have great respect for the guy... while despising the BLM and NAACP scum, and the pathetic "reparations" beggar parasites...
Without question, a tariff war will cause economic pain. Whether or not the people advising Trump understand this, I do not know. Regardless, the real objective of the tariffs may be political rather than economic and they are willing (for us) to pay the economic price. This is only a conjecture on my part.
The one man I do respect on this subject is Armstrong. Here is his post from today...............................................
Tariffs are NOT Reciprocal
Posted Apr 4, 2025 By Martin Armstrong
...The assumption that tariffs should be determined by “half of the surplus” rule ignores the reality that trade wars are not linear. These tariffs are NOT “reciprocal” as the Trump Administration insists. They are not looking at the actual tariffs set by other nations. Those advising Trump believe that other countries will want to negotiate “tariffs” to permit free trade, but instead they are simply hoping to close trade deficits, and that simply cannot occur. Thursday’s sell-off is indicative of capital flowing out of the US. The Trump Administration basically told the world that America is closed for international business, and capital is responding to the threat. The real impact of these tariffs will soon come as we move deeper into a period of stagflation.
I think Jeff explained the Trump's strategy with the tariff war well. It's not just to even the field 'fair trade vs free trade', but to get other concessions from our trading partners. (like Jeff's idea that Starmer may cough up some perps from Russiagate).
Exchange. Rate. Follow the exchange rate. USD to CAD, USD to EUR, USD to MXN, USD to GBP, etc.
This will be where the rubber hits the road about tariffs. If, as predicted by esteemed economists, the USD goes UP in value vs. other currencies any increased tariff cost is offset by greater purchasing power in the nation that's been tariffed, their currency value goes down relative the the USD. Which makes an increased tariff a net wash for the stronger USD for buyers exchanging dollars.
In a dynamic economy many factors come into play, tariffs don't stand alone, act as a static 1:1 influence in an economy. Put things in motion and many other things result besides the direct impact. An eye to exchange rates will tell all.
Think about it, what currency will other nations flee to? China's? the Euro? Russia's? The only other viable international exchange system existing today is BRICS, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. Are the Europeans and Canadians going to start doing business with Putin to hurt Trump? I've seen many foreign policy pivots in my life before, but that would take the cake.
USD wins any tariff war today, in 2025. Maybe in 2030 things would've been different had we been subjected to more of the Biden/Obama/Bush/Clinton/Bush trade policies. But as of today the USD is still the king of all currencies. And Trump's actions will ensure it remains the king of all currencies. Which allows the US to ride out any tariff/trade war that adversaries and frenemies alike wish to engage in.
“Civilizations at this late stage,” he explained, “are morally hollow, and thus fragile and prone to abuses of power, like censorship, lawfare, and the weaponization of government agencies.”
Armstrong just posted this...................................
Trump’s Tariffs are Winning
Posted Apr 4, 2025 By Martin Armstrong
I have said on various podcasts that a 10% tariff is really a tariff. Beyond that, it is political to force free trade. Most countries are dropping tariffs on US goods, creating what Trump actually was trying to create – FREE TRADE. The belligerent one is, of course, France. Macron has a Napoleon Complex, which is why he has been pushing for war, offering nukes to Germany, and trying to supplant the United States as the savior of Europe, being the 3rd largest nuclear power....
Macron, according to sources, is urging fill retaliation against the Trump that the EU should block all US goods and push for capital controls to prevent money from flowing to the US. He already uses non-tariffs pretending it to be “quality” control outright blocking some products.
However, Macron is also pushing for war with Russia, offering Germany nukes to replace the US as the savior of Europe. He thinks war will elevate France to the leadership of Europe because of its nukes...
The other side of the coin is that something had to be done. And the truth is that America was subsidizing the economies of the rest of the world and running deficits to do it. And this has been done at the expense of the non-commercial and non-financial classes, who were being devastated into third poverty for many decades now, literally being sold by their 'betters' into financial slavery.
One could also make arguments about the 'country living beyond is means', subsidy and trade imbalances and the allowing of gold and silver money (which restrict excesses) to lapse. And this would be only the tip of the ice burg as to 'what went wrong' and which inevitably led to off-shoring. And without waxing effusively verbose, I say that the entire 'can of worms' economically speaking is very complex, and when it comes to economics there are no infallible popes.
As well, I often ask myself this. How was it possible that earlier America had tariffs for decades on end, came to displace England as the manufacturing center of the world and still rise to dominance in world trade? And just why do other countries do everything in the book to achieve trade advantage, including currency exchange advantage ... but the United States continually shoots itself in the foot? And why does the United States throw real economics out the window in favor of Globalist ideologically based fairy tale inventions funded largely by money printing which in turn is the death and the robbing of us all save but the Anointed Grifting Few?
I also look at another key input, the cost of manufacturing and competitiveness. I wonder, for example, at robotics and the leveling of labor cost which will reshape the map of the world? Cost of energy input? In the restructuring of the United States, this could be a huge competitive advantage.
Armstrong is smart and he is one of my regular stops. But there are things which he does not consider. And ditto for Bonner and Casey.
In short, something had to be done. The United States was on the brink of collapse. And even if Trump's policies were to lead to outright collapse, we had nothing to lose. Because that's were we were headed anyway. As it is, I am cautiously optimistic. And I realize that it is not just tariffs, but it is also the rest of the overall restructure package which has to succeed. It's still, nonetheless, too early to rush to judgment.
Great comment for thought! And you are so right: we had nothing to lose for we were already at the edge of destruction. As you said at the beginning, for decades, Americans were "literally being sold by their 'betters' into financial slavery." One only has to look around today and all you see is financial slavery to indebtedness. No one is self-sufficient! I can not think of anything more anti-American and, more importantly, more anti-Christian than that.
This all goes back to what was done in 1913 as I commented elsewhere:
...The Seventeenth Amendment (direct election of Senators - the final act of centralizing power in the Federal Gov't and gutting the Constitutional protection of the Sovereign States which began with Lincoln's War of Northern Aggression in 1861)
...The Federal Reserve Act signed into law by Pres Wilson which enslaved America to the international banking debt system
...The Sixteenth Amendment (income tax) which put the shackles of debt slavery upon each and every American in servitude to the international banking system.
The above enslavement of the American people to an international oligarch debt system was made possible by the political destruction of State sovereignty in the war of 1861. That war forever changed the course of American history and made 1913 inevitable.
I completely agree with you conclusion that "something had to be done" even if it resulted in collapse. It is definitely too early to pass any judgement. Trump and his team are working with many factors and economics is only one. I suspect that his tariffs are not purely based on economics but rather they have a political usefulness. I also think this is supported by the way they have been set up so Trump can increase, decrease or eliminate them at will. This is something I've never seen done before. That tells me he is using them to achieve political ends, not just economic. I also am cautiously hopeful.
I may have mentioned it previously, but I came across a little book by John W Burgess, written 1923, "Recent Changes (!) in American Constitutional Theory". He was called the Father of Political Science in America. In it he laments three things that were direct attacks on the pursuit of LIFE: Selective Service unlimited to wars of defense at home. LIBERTY: Espionage Act. And, PROPERTY/pursuit of happiness: Income Tax. It is very interesting. He wrote as he retired from being a professor and political advisor to presidents. Prescient.
Definitely prescient! Thanks for the reference. He amazingly dissected what was going to happen. From the 3 seeds you listed of LIFE, LIBERTY & PROPERTY, sprang ALL the tyranny we see today and this all from what was done in 1913.
Save these thoughts for commenting again. Superb example of why it is so important to know history!
So far, we are getting relief. And if there is a reversal which sticks, it will be authoritarian in nature ... something akin to what the Russian Federation has (which is better in a nominally Christian way than the totalitarian Chinese practices). Since Christianity has been largely neutered in the Western world, there is no going back to 17th and 18th century America. And then there are the invasion of the robots which will change every and then to level the labor cost input throughout the world economy.
Post May 1945 in Germany and post the Soviet dissolution announced on December 31st, 1991 ... both of these economies were pretty much gutted. In both cases it was a good twenty years for those economies to get rebuilt, and an extra ten on top of that to full strength. As an historical footnote, the Russian Federation was not strong enough to contest the US and NATO in the 2014 era. And as it worked out, the historical stage was better set for Russia given the proxy war, the weaponizing of SWIFT, covid terrorism, shifts in world attitudes and so on ... much better for Russia. And better to have a fully deployed hypersonic missile system either deployed or just coming into deployment.
So the United States has to have a normalization across all fields of human endeavor. Total banishment of the anarchy and chaos of what we have had to go through for the last ten to twenty years. Col. MacGregor hints at some of this in this interview.
So many pieces, reforms, exorcisms of bad behaviors have to happen before America has a prayer for an approximate recovery of its once former itself. But even then it will never again be the same world as it was in our time of rearing. The demographics are now to far gone for that to happen.
Dave, you are prophetic in your analysis and IMO, you have stated the whole situation to a T.
The way I say it, we have entered an era of "the political strongman". This is exemplified by Trump, Xi, Putin and to a lesser extent, the megalomaniacs of the EU who will extinguish themselves against the boulders of the big three.
I find myself in an interesting mental watershed. Having spent most of my life supportive of the ideals of America's founders, reality has now caused me mentally to actually look forward to an "authoritarian regime", modified by Christian ethical restraint, that kills and suppresses the nihilistic impulses that have infected political society for the last 20+ years.
Fallen Christianity in the West has given to us a schizoid habit of mind. For example, a Westminster Calvinist will long for an authentic American Exceptionalism based upon law practise tributary of Christian Law ... and as was manifested in the original states' constitutions. But the operating reality is as you say, a strong man like the one who is now a busy bee in the issuing of executive orders. This is precisely what Augustus did with Rome. And as of yore so it is in our modern example, a rule with a thin old republican glazing pasted over the new body politic fact.
We reap what we sow. And having done so, the best we Americans can expect is an authoritarian regime quasi-conditioned by a watered down Christian past. But nonetheless, a menacing dagger lingers, poised to strike with any sudden darken shift in political fortunes. And the set in concrete reality of the moment is that there appears to be no going back to what once was. The demographics are too much changed and the memory of what once was has faded ... and is no longer taught.
"Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil" -- Thomas Mann
You put into narrative my state of mind very well. I am thankful for the day we have, that is, a Trump regime day rather than a Kamala regime day. And sufficient unto the day are the troubles of the day without worrying about tomorrow. There is much for us to do while the sun is shining. Tomorrow will take care of itself if we take advantage of the present to do what we can to prepare.
I think Providence has given us a reprieve from a complete cultural collapse for which I am thankful for the sake of my grandchildren. One cannot look at grandchildren and not realize the beauty that the future could hold because of them.
And as you pointed out in your previous comment, the demographics in America have changed so much, our old paradigms have become obsolete. These are not the demographic changes of a growing culture absorbing mass immigration such as in the 19th century but rather we have become a morally and intellectually weak geriatric culture being hit with a massive alien migration that is openly hostile to the existing culture and is not compatible.
This has got to produce a lot of internal conflict which will only get worse and on top of that, there is the fact that the USG Empire itself will eventually collapse as all empires do when they can no longer be sustained. I see two possibilities. We can disintegrate and collapse into ruin as the Roman Empire did or we can "voluntarily" pull back as Russia was forced to do and focus inward on building a strong and stable society without trying to impose our rule on the rest of the planet. I now see the latter as a distinct possibility initiated by the Trump regime. I think this is what we should be working towards. If we don't, then the reprieve Providence has given us could be short-lived.
All of which brings me to the existential question: the revival of the American church, the body of Christ, to once again be salt and leaven in the culture. There is a reason Jesus said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world." The American church has effectively bought into the dispensational lie that Christ's kingdom will be an earthly kingdom to be brought about by His physical return when He will impose His kingdom on earth by force. I cannot think of anything more antithetical to His teachings which is the same lie Satan offered Him in the wilderness in Matt 4:8-9. If the American church does not reject the error of Dispensationalism, then we may yet have to suffer the prior more difficult alternative of a complete collapse of society.
It's Sunday, so I read some Westminster, took in an Internet sermon, plus watched the below and mostly because De Wife alluded to it. And as you know wives are the smartest people on the planet. Or so some people think! :)
I live pretty much outside the world in which most other people dwell, and I always have done so since I was a child. My motto throughout life has been, "If you want everyone else's results, do what everyone else does." These days, not wanting every one else's result compel one straight into the camp of the resistance.
The video describes the state of things very well. I think you will like the commentary. It's pretty succinct.
They were very succinct! Thank you. Funny thing is, I posted this earlier this week to C&C - I think to someone's scripture postings - without first watching it and then failed to get back to watch it. Silly me. His description of the dispensational mindset was excellent. I have often alluded to the fact that dispensationalism causes Christians to retreat from society and simply sit in the church pew praying for the End Times. (Obviously this the Satan's purpose for this lie.) He puts it much better. And he so clearly describes the fact that the only reason people accept what they are being taught is because they have never read the Word for themselves. When you actually do THAT... one cannot help but see that this is NOT what Jesus was saying. Just pick up the Book and read His words!
I was impressed by their observation that the people that are being taught dispensationalism are the very best people of the church. All wonderful loving Christians, the very best people you would want to associate with. I had not really thought of that before. They have GOT to start questioning what they are being taught!
I identify with your motto. My attitude from my earliest days has been similar, "When everyone is going one way, go in the opposite direction, don't be part of the crowd." Not sure how I came by that attitude but it worked for me even on the playground. As a result, I've always been skeptical of popularly held beliefs. When I was in my latter 20's, I was attending a small, reformed church in CA. In Sunday school, the elders assigned a book by a reformed author for me to read and then give a presentation on what I had read. I don't remember his name but I'm sure you would recognize it. I found the book to be sound but seriously lacking in an understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit. Generally speaking, that is an area where I feel reformed theology needs some development. So I developed a critique of the book on that subject by simply applying relevant passages from the NT to demonstrate that the authors appreciation of the work of the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ is seriously understated. Apparently the elders were impressed. After my presentation, one came up to me and asked if I had ever taught classes before. I said no.
Thanks for drawing my attention back to this interview.
Sowell is politicalized against Trump and has been against him from the beginning. Unfortunately he is suffering from the Schellenberger Syndrome due to academic poisoning.
What a complete disappointment that "man of God" turned out to be. If I remember correctly though, I wasn't thrilled when Trump picked him because of his behavior with DOMA. We already have enough squishes in government. We didn't need one second in command. Anyway, he's completely exposed now, so there's that.
What an oleaginous cretin that WEF puppet turned out to be. Notice the WEF puppets never back down. They have to double-down on losing positions, because their handlers have so much dirt on them. Much like Trudeau, whose own brother said the powers that be have major goods on poor Justin.
That was excellent NAB. Batya Sargon is or was a liberal, but is an independent, courageous thinker. Her comments on the tariff tantrums are spot on. She is 100% for rebuilding the middle class & for Trump on this. She was / is? an editor at Newsweek. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by her common sense given her msm position.
If you get a chance read Whitney Webb and Diego's expose "All Roads Lead to Dark Winter." There is a good section on Mike Pence's involvement with the Neo-con agenda.
That is how I tell if something is truly good or evil. It is incredibly helpful. Let's see...who hates it?? Demons? Pedos? Orcs? OK then...it must BE a GOOD thing! LFG!
Remember the saying, "It's the economy, stupid?" I think the annoying James Carville came up with that one for Bill Clinton. He was right. If this doesn't correct very soon, like ASAP, the Democrats will not only take over the House in 2026, but also the Senate. Trump might as well resign if that happens... I think he's gone too far too fast with these tariffs.
I say this as someone whose 401K and retirement accounts are taking a beating right now, but what about the millions of people who have no 401K accounts? Truly. What about the Americans who have watched their livelihoods get exported to other countries in trade deals that left them SOL? I don't know if tariffs will be a net benefit at the end of the day, but is our current way of doing business sustainable? Would we rather have a system which rewards political patrons instead of hardworking men and women just trying to grasp a little of the American Dream? What other approaches can a government take? And why haven't those approaches been taken before? Why is it now everyone has thoughts but before, while in the lap of power, none of them were willing to rock the financial boat?
Again. I don't know the answer. I am not an economics expert. My estimated "value" has decreased markedly in the past few days, but I am willing to take the hit so as to save my children (five of them) and any future grandchildren, the suffering of stagnant economic future. This is obviously a multi-faceted problem and will require more than a single intervention, but it seems we have to start somewhere. Trump did run on reforming our trade practices. I voted for this.
You're not wrong about those unfortunate people. But that's not going to change the attitude of regular, not-rich people who watched their 401k lose so much value. They will vote Democrat in 2026.
Maybe. But I think there are a lot of Trump voters like me: Gen Xers, products of a "benign neglect" style of parenting, and willing to take the lumps on behalf of our progeny.
I don't know how we define "not rich" with a 401K, but I would call myself, with a modest 401K, "comfortable." Again, we lived on beans and rice for years when we were first married, never bought a new car, and made other Dave Ramsey-style choices to get where we are today. If I have to forgo European vacations as a senior so my kids have a chance to buy a house and raise a family, I'm good.
I switched mine to a gold and silver shortly after taking a beating with Biden. The returns have been great but better still I stopped hemorrhaging. That said, if you would rather live under the dem party platform than take a loss in your portfolio and you believe it will do better under commie rule....I just don't know what to say. I guess maybe the love of money is the root of all evil.
The vast majority of people out there aren't thinking that deeply, Sue. Most people out there are pretty simple and shallow, and $$$ is the be-all-end-all for them... All they see is that their 401k is worth significantly less today than it was worth last week, or even more poignantly, in February when the market was at an all-time high. They'll blame the one caught holding the bag at the time of the collapse, in this case, Trump. And the Democrats have an easy target in Trump on which to pin the blame, since the crash was/is a direct result of his bombastic tariff rollout.
It'd better correct fast, or else in 2026 we're going to see Speaker Hakeem the Dream and Majority Leader Chuck "Gargoyle Face" Schumer.
It’s amazing to me that the new administration is 90 days old, most of Trump‘s appointments are not yet 60 days old and everybody’s bitching and whining that all the stuff that they wanted done isn’t done yet so now they’re pissed off that they voted the way they voted. I’ve never seen such thin skinned clown behavior in my life.
Also, Matt Taibbi just announced he filed a $10M libel lawsuit in federal court against Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove over her false claims against him. In the event anyone wants to hear what $71,428.57 a second sounds like, here ya go. https://x.com/Evans_Wroten/status/1907904901562380687
There is a concerted effort underway, a PSYOP, to attempt to build dissent. I'm seeing more and more of them on here. These "Conservatives" (meaning TDS dems and Never Trumper rinos) are popping up to piss and moan in an effort to undermine all the great work POTUS is doing.
IGNORE THEIR BULLSHIT. But, also, don't be afraid to engage them with facts and take them down.
I was mixing it up with two of them yesterday. One thing Ive noticed is they like to build/gain "acceptance" by liking other people's posts, and then shortly after, they will toss in a negative post about POTUS or an attack on a policy they are using to build/cause dissent. Its a dead give away.
It’s not just them. Too many people believe what they see on msm, even though they will say they don’t trust the media any longer. I have a longtime friend who was always conservative. Moved to FL permanently before covid hit. She was never much of a social media poster before, but now she has a full out case of TDS and “occupy democrats” has become her warrior voice.
IMO, the RINOs, who are literally "wolves in sheep's clothing, have lost their cover and are now exposed to the American electorate as enemies. Finally!!
I think the American people have had enough of their bullcrap.
You are right Phil. The problem is that we have to now get them out of power and we cannot do THAT until we have legitimate elections, conducted by the people, and counted by the people. "Its not who votes, but who counts the vote."
next to "my body my choice" (except of course for covid vaccines) the left's favorite expression is "you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs," so they should be very much in tune with Trump's approach to resetting the world trade arrangements as Trump is certainly breaking more than a few eggs
Like you, I don't understand the instant gratification crowd. It took decades for our government to reach the level of corruption and incompetence that existed when Trump took office. It's not going to change overnight. It's going to take all four years of his term, and if we want the changes to continue beyond 2028, we need a solid majority in both the House and Senate, and JD in the White House. Gotta be patient.
I agree...all points and I'll add this: We Trump supporters NEED Congress to codify all executive action. To date, I can't point to anything the R Congress has done. Trump & his team are doing 100% of the heavy lifting. Adding insult to injury, I now hear of 4 clowns (Collins, Murkowski, McConnell, & Rand Paul) supporting Democrats on rescinding tariffs on Canada. I'm sick of Rand Paul's holier-than-thou crusade. All of us must compromise for the greater good. I don't like what's happening with my investments and real estate business, but the deficit spending, corruption, waste/fraud/abuse (i.e. status quo) was destroying all of us.
Apparently, we C&Cers see the greater good and the need to suck it up for a little while. I'm sick of politicians. I'd rather clean house and start over with patriots, risking a few good MAGA patriots getting swept up in the carnage. Yes, I'm serious.
People like the 4 aforementioned RINOS and WEFer Dan Crenshaw anger me. I want 100% Trump backed politicians to get the damn job done.
Exactly right. Gotta have strong majorities, because from the looks of it there are too many Republicans afraid to put their foot on the gas. These victories will be undone by Dems if not codified.
Makes me think of the Israelites after Moses led them out of BONDAGE in Egypt, thru a MIRACULOUS Red Sea crossing to safety and FREEDOM....And then he takes a few days away from the camp & goes up to confer with the Most High...and what do those faithless Israelites do? They bite the Hand that feeds them! Worshipped FALSE GODS. Spit in YeHoVah 's eye! And here we are today, watching it happen all over again. 🤦🏼🤦🏼🤦🏼
I hope Matt wins. That woman is so stupid that she reiterated her comments on social media - if she had kept them just in congressional record, she'd be safe. And to add to that, she used as her reference a fiction book written by Taibbi's writing partner - lol. So she based her claim on something that was entirely made-up - which everyone else but her seems to know.
Isn’t that typical these days? People want to make their voice heard far and wide. I guess they’re dying to be relevant. Making a claim based on fiction…I’m pretty sure she was just following party directives there.
I hope she is having big trouble sleeping now. At a minimum. Has she been squatting in congress long enough parlay her worth up into the millions of dollars yet? She might need it.
Yes, short term thinking prevails for most voters. Problem is too many people living paycheck to paycheck (for lots of reasons - too many single parent homes, too many people in debt and too much wage stagnation) who are going to lead with whoever promises them quick fixes and or free stuff.
Evans, I agree. It’s been a 100 days. I keep telling myself long game, but I also have to remind myself the last 4 years sucked so bad I think it’s a trauma reaction ‘hurry up Trump’ and Congress for Christ sake- MOVE on something!
Totally agree. The doomers and naysayers are incredibly annoying and demoralizing. That includes leftists, of course, but also people like Peggy Hall, Emerald Robinson, Whitney Webb. In my own personal chat group on Twitter it includes black-and-white thinkers who feel Trump has done "nothing" and been a disappointment because he hasn't fired every damn person they dislike immediately. So aggravating.
Thinking about tariffs has caused me a lot of dismay, anger.
I did not imagine that we were being taken advantage of. When I say we, I mean us, regular folks. The world governments and elitist have created a process to strip money and power from us, the tax payers.
I never imagined this was happening in such a concerned manner. Finding this out has made me realize that I need to be better educated.
Jeff and a number of C&C writers have helped me with this goal.
I still subscribe to Student News Daily (former homeschool mom) and in their background section of their coverage of the tariffs they included an interview of Trump by Oprah in 1988 in which he expressed outrage at how America was being ripped off because of our trade policies.
I'm hopeful for young Barron as well. Many early videos of Trump in his office and such show him with Barron as a child. Now he seems well put together and vastly mature for his age.
Right about that time Oprah wrote Trump a letter suggesting he run for president and she could be his number 2,or so rumor has it. I believe he included it in the coffee table book he published with all the "love letters" celebrities used to send him and the photos they clamored to get with him. That is before he ran as a republican.
"Anyone who wants to remain ignorant and free is expecting what never was and never will be". Thomas Jefferson. My favorite quote, So, hell yes. Knowledge is power, Why do you think it used o be illegal to teach a slave to read?, and why we are in this mess to start with?
Part of that knowledge being power thing... what they're not saying about tariffs is the impact of them on currency exchange rates. The strongest currency gains advantage when combined with tariffs. So while US tariffs rise the USD rises.
Which means the cost of imported goods goes down, purchasing power goes up. The increased tariff becomes a wash, net is negligible. The weaker currency exports are devalued, cost borne by exporter nation.
And if they respond with a tariff war, raise their own tariffs they just hurt themselves even more. It's a "tax" on citizens and businesses in foreign nations, not US citizens. A brilliant move by Trump. A FAFO move by Trump.
Media, academia, D's, Rino's (redundant) won't say this. But when you seek knowledge you learn this. Which is powerful.
What's hilarious about the Left and the MSM (i repeat myself) is they couldn't spell tariff, let alone define it. I mean by the way their talking you'd think it was a crime against humanity.
Let me sum up what they're really concerned about:
Slavery is profitable for the slaver. That is globalism. It's not a belief system or dogma...it's simply a financial weapon.
What the MSM or the so-called financial experts won't tell you is that productivity is the biggest driver of prices in a truly free market. We just happen to be the most productive country on earth based on the output of the individual worker. Tariffs will eventually drive prices down because it will disincentivize state-sponsored competition of our rivals.
That's what the plutocrats want:
Pitting American businesses against state-backed foreign rivals, subsidized by us (the tax payer)...talk about a perverse incentive.
Onshoring businesses will allow the invisible hand to lower prices after the market has adjusted because the more we manufacture the lower the price of each unit becomes to produce. All economist know this, but are unwilling to admit what everyone learned in economics 101:
Prices are subject to the law of increasing returns because capital costs are fixed, therefore the more we make; the more the cost is distributed across the system.
And that's what they fear:
Their money is made by INCREASING the cost across our domestic system.
This is what Obama and the rest of the Globalists meant by saying "a fundamental transformation of the economy".
I have a personal plan to weather what may come: stop buying crap I don't need and be a little more discerning on what I must buy. I looked at my Amazon orders lists and holy cow.....I can do much better. We are a consumer society for sure.
One of the fascinating aspects I find of this (though likely not a motivating factor and will also never be attributed to him) is that to buy less cheap crap from far away is actually a fundamentally responsible environmental practice. The more local your purchasing (for all countries), the better for your community and the planetary resources. And I would also love that there is diversity to travel again instead of the same stuff everywhere you go.
The talking heads (not the Talking Heads, who are cool) also take advantage of the fact that economics are complicated and multi-factorial and difficult for most to understand. You can pretty much tell people anything you want about what is surely going to happen economically, and "we" don't have the capacity to discern otherwise. That's why I'm in a posture of "Let's see how this plays out." It's impossible to forecast. Too many players on the board. Too many release valves.
"I am all in favor of going back to tariffs to fund the federal government. Either use them for leverage or cash flow. Increased tariffs reduce trade deficit, increase treasury revenue, decrease inflation, and increase savings. Tariffs are not the same as a sales tax that is added onto the cost for goods purchased. Tariffs will drive competition, just like prices in a free market. Countries will be fighting to compete and gain favor for lower tariffs to get market share over other countries. Done properly, this could lead to huge revenues and price reductions.
No taxes and just tariffs would be great for America. They would make it less expensive to make things in America. This would provide jobs. Tariffs will help to cut taxes but also are a long-term play. Americans may not have the patience to stomach the short-term pain of tariffs before the good results of tariffs down the road. If I had it my way, the federal government would get 100% of its revenue from tariffs and close the IRS immediately."
“ If I had it my way, the federal government would get 100% of its revenue from tariffs and close the IRS immediately."…… isn’t this exactly the intended plan? Eventually no income taxes and shutter the IRS for good?
America is 70% at least of all purchasing from Everywhere. We have always had the power to negotiate but the ogliarchs who have run our country into the ground make too much money off it.
Likewise! But beyond the tax issue, I think my gripe is that there is ABSOLUTELY NO VALUE received by the taxpayer. Looking at all these idiots raking in millions (via the rest of us). The utter govt waste. The fraud. No taxes can't come soon enough.
I've often said that if I had control of how my tax money is being spent and irrefutable proof that it is actually spent for the purposes I select, I wouldn't mind nearly so much paying taxes. But we don't have any control over how much or what our taxes are used for other than graft and fraud. It's sickening.
You’re close to bringing up the Triffin Dilemma. Everyone fearing the tariffs does not realize the horrible inflation we have had. This comes from being the worlds reserve currency. So our seemingly huge 401k’s don’t have nearly the purchasing power we need.
I first started to realize that my government was actually working against me during the Obamacare debate. It was perfectly obvious from the outset that many people were not going to be able to keep their doctors and their current health insurance plan; but we were bombarded with lies that many naturally believed. For millions of others, it was COVID. For more, the lies about Hunter Biden's laptop. Unchecked immigration, and the current push to bring back violent deportees, will surely sway many more Americans. Thank Goodness for Substack!
And who did Cash for Clunkers hurt most? The lower income /first time car buyer who couldn't afford a new car. All the sudden there was a dearth of cheap clunkers for sale and the few that were available doubled in price...it was a bad time to replace a car.
Another Democrat boondoggle that impacted those who could least afford it, like every green program that exists.
For me it was back-to-back Republican candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney! You've got to be kidding. The slander of S. Palin when I assumed normal people would all get behind her (Reps for her conservatism and Dems b/c she was a woman). Also, when I first heard Rush Limbaugh first-hand. He wasn't the devil he was painted to be. And his montages of the mockingbird media were spot on. His quote to, that, "It's not the crime, it's the accusation" (not ver batim). So many lights went on...
I’ve known the elites were robbing us blind but never knew specifics. Just think, they have started investigating how the likes of Biden and AOC type people in government become millionaires. Think you’re angry about tariffs?! You might want to think about some relaxation “meds” or techniques or such before you read anything about Biden/AOC’s rise to millionaire status.
Yes, I had to go outside of the free trade mindset and really look at what was going on here and my eyes have been opened. I did not imagine how much advantage other countries were taking of us in the current tariff setup before liberation day, and add to that are 36 trillion in debt and all that money flowing out to other countries for really stupid purposes via usaid that we didn't even know about beyond the usual foreign aid, and I'm asking: how was that supposed to work out?? The average person knows that's just not a sustainable way to handle one's finances.
The Language of Suppression: How the words “Conspiracy Theorist” and “Credible” Shut Down Inquiry Before It Begins
Language, at its best, is a tool for clarity and understanding. At its worst, it's a weapon—wielded to marginalize dissent, stifle debate, and fortify authority. Two phrases in particular—“conspiracy theorist” and “credible source”—have emerged as linguistic bludgeons in the modern era, routinely used not to explore the truth, but to silence those who dare to question it.
Let’s start with “conspiracy theorist.” It’s a term that now functions more as a character assassination than a descriptor. It no longer matters whether the so-called theorist is a Nobel Prize-winning scientist or a guy broadcasting from his garage in a tinfoil hat—once the label is applied, the conversation is over. It doesn’t refute the argument; it dismisses the person making it. It says: “Don’t listen to them. They’re not one of us.”
But what is a conspiracy if not a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful? History is bursting at the seams with them. From COINTELPRO to the Gulf of Tonkin, from MKUltra to Big Tobacco’s decades-long denial of smoking’s harms—what was once labeled “conspiracy theory” often ends up documented history. The term “conspiracy theorist,” then, doesn’t really mean “someone who believes in false plots.” It means “someone whose beliefs are inconvenient to power.”
On the flip side is the word “credible.” Sounds reassuring, doesn’t it? It conjures up images of white lab coats, press badges, and institutional logos. But credibility, in practice, is often determined not by merit, but by proximity to entrenched authority. A source is “credible” not because they’ve proven themselves reliable, but because they’re aligned with the dominant narrative. The term becomes a stamp of approval—granted to government agencies, legacy media outlets, and pharmaceutical conglomerates, no matter how many times they’ve been caught lying or catastrophically wrong.
Meanwhile, the very voices that predicted what would happen—accurately and ahead of time—are brushed aside because they don’t carry the institutional watermark. Wrong label, right answer? Too bad. You're still out.
What makes these rhetorical devices so insidious is that they pre-empt critical thinking. By branding dissent as madness and elevating conformity as “expertise,” they rewire the public to equate doubt with delusion and blind trust with virtue. It’s a linguistic form of gatekeeping, and it works frighteningly well.
The media plays a central role in this game. Journalists once prided themselves on challenging official narratives. Now, too often, they act as stenographers for those in power. When someone raises an uncomfortable question—about election integrity, pharmaceutical influence, or the origins of a virus—they’re not met with curiosity or a counterargument. They’re met with the modern-day scarlet letter: “conspiracy theorist.” Conversation terminated. Inquiry discouraged. Message received.
This isn't just about semantics—it's about who gets to speak, who gets heard, and who gets erased. When language becomes a shield for power and a muzzle for truth, we don’t just lose the debate. We lose the ability to have one.
To challenge the use of these terms is not to reject reason or evidence—it’s to demand that all claims, mainstream or otherwise, be evaluated on their substance. It’s to reclaim the terrain of open inquiry from those who would police it with buzzwords. Because when we cede our language to those who fear the question more than the answer, we’re not defending truth. We’re defending orthodoxy.
You are so right about language, which is why I don't stop telling people to use the term "Civil War" for the War of Succession, and liberals instead of bolsheviks, etc. The key is to have your ready made answer . Called a conspiracy theorist. ? My response, is I didn't know you were a shill for the CIA. And then give them the history of the term. Voter ID is rascist. So you are telling me blacks are too stupid to get an ID? You are an anti semite. No . I have no problem with people with Middle Eastern DNA, You do know that is the definition of a semite, right? It has nothing to do with religion,
As in "bye", we're leaving the US, as was permitted in the constitution. A civil war is by definition a war between 2 or more factions for control of the central government. The South wanted no parts of the central government, and just wanted to succeed and form their own country.
People are so easily manipulated through fear in many different ways.
Name calling is one of the ways people are manipulated. It’s an easy way to get people to do what you want or to silence them.
Unfortunately, most people are afraid of being called names. Our children would benefit from being taught to trust their own thoughts and opinions and to have the courage to stand by them. They need to evaluate abstractly why their foe is using certain tactics, because if someone is calling you names instead of pointing out facts why you’re possibly wrong there’s a good chance that they are manipulating you through guilt or some other emotion.
Me too! But look how many quiver at the thought of being called a coward, racist or anti vaxxer. They often will remain silent when they should speak out.
We are also manipulated through fear by the foods we eat -such & such is bad for you. Years later, it turns out it wasn’t so bad after all.
The government is fantastic at ruling through fear. Don’t pay taxes? Go to jail or pay heavy penalties -even if it’s an honest mistake.
Religions (not all) also use fear to manipulate people. Don’t believe? Burn in hell for eternity even if you lead a pure and unblemished life.
There are many more examples, but we are facing manipulative fear bombs everywhere.
"Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread."
Control the language,control the people Orwell was onto that long ago. Probably others too. Also rewriting history. 1984 and Brave New World were required reading when I was in school. Now most kids in high school couldn't read or comprehend it even if it was required.💔
The media plays the central and largest role. For better or worse, (it would seem worse), people still consume the media and believe one side or the other, which is two sides of the same coin.
A judge in a court of law prosecuting two or more people conspiring to commit murder (or fraud, embezzlement, etc) is theorizing, with the given evidence, the validity of that conspiracy. Therefore that court judge is a conspiracy theorist.
Conspiracy theorists have been active down the centuries. Just ask Shakespeare.
I can tell you personally that the Western Indian reservations desperately need law enforcement help. They have been invaded by Biden-era Mexican drug gangs causing an epidemic of fentanyl addiction and violence. The FBI has already busted some of these but much more is needed. The federal government has never kept its promises to Native Americans. There's a lot of catch-up to do.
Right on. I hope as Kristi Noem has first hand knowledge of this situation, she will be able in her new position to do domething to help them. She tried to do it as governor, and their officials banned her from the reservations. I imagine they are receiving kick backs for providing a good hiding place for the cartels.
This stuff couldn't happen without corruption. One of the many tragedies afflicting the Indians was how the government was able to buy off the "good" leaders. Ones like Crazy Horse or Sitting Bull couldn't be bought. It still goes on today.
Yes! That's a soap box I try to stay off of, but it's hard for me to do that sometimes. They finally let Leonard Peltier out of prison after serving FIFTY years for a crime they acquitted him of in about 1978.
Fauci's wife and others reassigned - "They’ll get snapped up by Big Pharma and be back to scamming the government in no time." Probably yes, and that is one more reason Big Pharma is an enemy of the people. Maybe Fauci himself will be reassigned - to a comfy prison cell.
Today is the anniversary of the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. I was a sophomore in high school at the time. My hometown of Alton Illinois saw businesses burned during the unrest. Ironically, Alton was the hometown of the "accused" killer James Earl Ray. He was just a patsy used by the FBI.
There’s a great episode on Haunted Cosmos podcast about MLK’s murder. I can’t remember the title of the episode, but it’s around the same time they discussed MK Ultra.
"Why didn’t any other U.S. President ever try this before?" Because their names were Johnson, Ford, Carter, Bush x 2, Clinton, Obama & Biden; 8 x 0 = 0
I cut Kennedy, Nixon & Reagan some slack but they could have done more.
Whenever someone complains to me about Trump going too fast, or ‘using a sledgehammer instead of a scalpel’ I remind them that these things have needed to be done for at least 30 years. Any President could have chosen to improve the border/economy/tariffs/health, etc in their own way, BUT THEY DIDN’T. So at least we have someone who is trying to right the ship. They need to stop complaining and give his policies a chance to work.
I did say ‘at least’. It depends on your age, it seems. I think all the problems started in the 60s, but my dad, who turns 93 this month, swears it started with Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Still, my point stands.
Your Dad is right. That’s when the Federal (I isn’t) Reserve (it isn’t) Bank (it isn’t) was started. That’s when the Big Long Heist of taxpayer money began.
He’s great. Lots of orthopedic issues but sharp as a tack mentally. And he loves politics and political history. Fascinating conversations. I’m so lucky to still have him.
Your dad is exactly right. And this is because he knows the history - due to his age if nothing else. For the most part, Americans are woefully ignorant of history.
1913:
...The Seventeenth Amendment (direct election of Senators - the final act of centralizing power in the Federal Gov't and gutting the Constitutional protection of the Sovereign States which began with Lincoln's War of Northern Aggression in 1861)
...The Federal Reserve Act signed into law by Pres Wilson which enslaved America to the international banking debt system
...The Sixteenth Amendment (income tax) which put the shackles of debt slavery upon each and every American in servitude to the international banking system.
I wondered at Melania’s outfit at inauguration. It seemed very severe. At first it reminded me of an English schoolgirl’s outfit, ala’ Matilda. I loved her pale blue outfit and smiling face from the first inauguration, for which she was butchered in the press. Her face never smiled at this inauguration and the hat hid her beautiful eyes. She was wearing a military uniform, ready for battle! Well thought out.
Agree but I think the overriding motif was that of a Funeral Dress. The Inauguration was a funeral, the burial of the Biden Regime. Barron's whispered message to Biden is indicative of this. When Barron returned to his seat and whispered what he did to his mom, she smiled. That was the only time I saw her smile.
Clinton sent jobs and factories offshore. That’s why we have to import so much.
China didn’t hold a gun to our heads to offshore jobs. The American industries did that. It’s their fault that we have a trade deficit. Richard Wolf explains at around 10 minutes in.
Everyday is like Christmas! Yes I voted for all of this. It needs to happen fast because there are still so many fighting against US, the legal citizens who voted for the change. I am disgusted by the smarmy swamp creatures in congress and the senate who think they know better and cannot be touched. They will all get theirs, we may not see it but no matter what they will stand in front of God for judgement and will not like the sentence they will be given. My God help unite and heal this nation
Hilarious! I just got my weekly update from my US representative, Tom Tiffany, who is the best, and he included that same Pelosi clip in his newsletter. He must be reading C&C comments.
That one went straight into my reference library. Going to put it in front of some liberals. Politics radicalizes and blinds most people with hatred. Thanks Roger.
If people went back to land-lines it would make driving one’s car much safer. I constantly see people weaving in an out of lanes. I even witnessed an accident at a stop light that would not have happened had the driver not been distracted. It’s ridiculous.
OMG! How horrible. Glad you weren’t hurt! I get paranoid just walking my dog nowadays. I’ve had some come very close to us and I either get off the road (no sidewalks) or cross the street if I spot them early. I usually just walk in my neighborhood, but we have our speeders and young folks that lack common sense. I could tell you stories…
Lastly, too many drivers are so self-absorbed and don’t realize how dangerous a vehicle is to pedestrians. 🚶♀️
Cellphones have created a generation of distracted people who have lost spatial awareness. The number of times folks (usually younger) have walked straight into me, eyes down glued to the black mirror. I have the feeling more and more this is intentional.
My iPhone 6 still works fine. Some apps (Home Depot, etc) won't run on it. Who cares? Not me. Camera lens is so scratched I get a "soft focus" effect at no cost. Also, its tiny compared to newer ones.
I had an I phone 6 until Jan. when I did a long facetime call and the battery would no longer hold a charge. I reluctantly went to my carrier Verizon and exchanged it for a Google Pixel 9 for free and $10 lower monthly bill. Maybe I should have tried the can tied to a string trick.
Many don’t know the battery can be replaced. I had mine replaced after the same issue, now it runs like a super phone, difficult to make it go under 50%. I’m a tightwad. Your mileage may vary.
My problem was when I got the phone it only had 12GB which is nothing and was used up quickly. I really didn't have anything to delete to free up space. Now with 256GB or there abouts I'm good. Google tracking me? So what. If they are that bored have at it. But I may look into getting a new battery for it. It took great pictures.
I still use my iPhone 4 for taking pictures because it doesn't have such a wide-angle lens. Then I up-rez the image and most of the time it comes out better than expected.
I kept my landline till my aged father died because he called me on it every Sunday night at 8pm. I kinda miss it too. On a landline, you can talk over each other. On a cell phone, only one voice can be heard at a time. In my family, we all always jumped in interrupting and over-talking each other.
We do too Kathleen! Our power went out a couple years ago for several hours and my husband wondered if the power was also out at his brothers a half mile down the road. I told him 'you may get a dial tone, but the rotary won't work because phones now have the tone and the system won't recognize the rotary clicks'. He said 'it will work'. and in my husbands typical style went to the basement, dialed the rotary phone and voila, it worked! I was shocked.
I have a rotary phone as well.......... but no one will hook it up out here in the badlands of west texas.... sigh... I still dial it just to hear the click click click of the return dial. it gives me peace.
I have a cheap flip phone for when I am out, but it is just for emergencies. I keep it shut off so no one can call me when I am driving or grocery shopping.
Yup I have one of those too, I don't really use it otherwise. When I showed it to someone they called it a "burner phone or gangsta phone". We have an internet phone through the computer with less EMF. I also use paper and read hand held books! I don't mind being a dinosaur.
Kathleen, I hate being tied to the smart phone. These days, you can't make doctor appointments, line up a moving vanline, work with a financial advisor, or just about anything without the dang phone for things like multi-factor authentication, etc. You need an online account for EVERYTHING. Please tell me how you get buy without the smart phone.
For ordering online, for accessing my VA benefits and contacting my doctor, or buying airline tickets, and for paying my credit card bills, and doing banking. Although I still do write checks for some things.
The multi-factor authentication (for Chase and the VA) requires a phone call to my landline where I get the 6 or 8 digit authorization code. So I have to be home to do that...which is a good thing because I sitting at my desk.
What would concern me is how everyone's life is on their phone. What happens if it is stolen?
Indeed. A neighbor of mine had her phone stolen by a pickpocket on the Paris Metro and it turned her life upside down. I'm with you, Kathleen - I would never use my phone for anything financial or having to do with health care. Checking email, sometimes, but otherwise I use it mainly for my appointment calendar and grocery list, completely offline. Mobile data turned off unless in active use.
If cell phones suddenly stopped working, there would be utter chaos and destruction for people who rely solely on their phones. Can't call 911. Freaking out in the car because Waze cut off would send you into a panic.
Worse, no access to our daily dose of C&C! God forbid. ;-)
Once when I was at the VA and just scheduled a follow up appointment, I wrote it down in my pocket calendar made from paper.
Someone who was watching me commented that it was nice to see a person still using paper.
Regarding books...I prefer a real book as opposed to digital. I have a couple of Kindles and found that reading wasn't as enjoyable and I felt like my reading comprehension wasn't as good. I love the feel of paper in my hands as I turn the page...and I love the smell of a new book.
I know it's true about paper book reading. My comprehension and memory has tumbled very noticably in the years I've been digital. 😭 It's killing brain cells. Why needs a brain in your head when you can hold your being in your hand. Nobody's head is attached anymore. 🤣😭
I had to shut off my parents landline ONLY BECAUSE China has ppl calling every fifteen minutes to sell a healthcare product to be charged to Medicare and you couldn't say no if you answered the phone and they couldn't NOT ANSWER the phone. 😡 Basement full of body braces. Carried to charity resale.
Land lines are not the answer for all areas. We live near a small town in OK and our land line was constantly noisy or going dead completely. We finally gave up and had it disconnected.
I have a friend who has a landline and a cell. He had to keep the landline because his cell doesn't get great reception. Apparently he is in some sort of dead zone for the cell.
I want a landline back as well. I looked into it and the companies offering a "landline" are really just WiFi. It's lame. The only time my phone didn't work before was because the cat knocked it over so the busy signal would be for a while.
I buy a burner phone from a shopping channel every couple of years. My only expense after purchase is adding on another year service and additional texts, $5 for 1K every month or so. Currently using a Samsung. Does everything my family that use iPhones does.
Funny how the tariffs on China are affecting American businesses. They are over there because they didn’t want to pay American workers a living wage. Well if this hits their bottom line of profits then lol.
"The useless, flatlined media is decrying Trump’s moves as reckless, ill-advised, and poorly thought-out, like he just dreamed it all up Monday after eating a bad taco, but the truth (as usual) is the exact opposite."
After all, everyone knows TUESDAY is the day to eat tacos.
they are the only ones with microphones called Mainstream media. And I am noticing so many A.I. bots here swarming truth channels like C&C...... the more the resistance the more you may know you are behind the righteous cause. CARRY ON YOU WARRIORS!
It goes far beyond media too. For example the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) in today's blog are insulting RFK and the Trump admin for the cuts to the NIH, FDA etc. and are pushing the agenda of the last 4 years with bloated govt and pushing jabs for every creature on earth. They are so woke and part of the Industrial Medical Complex. Anyone with pets, know vets are mostly blue pilled so consider working with a holistic/functional/integrative vet as they are not jab happy and try to not use big pharma as much as possible. So much better than conventional GP vets. Big pharma is coming after our pets big time as there is a lot of $$$$$$$$$ in the pet industry. Make sure you are vetting (excuse the pun) your vet well as many are woke, uninformed and believe in every jab for every pet.
God, help us, I truly hope so! It is so bad here in California that they have a real hard time predicting the day to day weather. And it's disgusting when the day starts with beautiful blue skies and end with ugly milky white ones.
The skies have been full of chemtrails the last few days as they get ready to amplify the storm system coming over mid-America this weekend. TWC is already predicting unprecedented violent weather.
And don't even tell me those lying TWC experts haven't seen the chemtrails!
I'd suggest that it is God's grace that "makes" one a Christian. The good acts follow as the manifestation of that grace, bringing honor to God. Works are the result of, not the cause of, salvation.
Well said. Another way is, the fruits of the Holy Spirit thriving in the heart of a Christian. A Christian with faith alone and no works is weak. But the works don’t make him a Christian.
And there is no conflict between this passage from James and Ephesians 2:8, quoted in this comment thread by Robin Greer!
From Galatians 2:20 -- "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."
The works are done in Him, and we credit Him! Like the tax collector and not the Pharisee, we have no self-righteousness. There are those who would call one a Pharisee for preaching righteousness. These don't understand the gospel.
Preaching to the choir, TriTorch, for the sake of any readers of this thread.
Works are the fruit not the root. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
When I saw Mike Pence had a column out slamming the tariffs I knew they must be ok.
Mike 'Thirty' Pence wins the award for the Most Disappointing Guy from Trump 1.0.
I mean, no one comes close.
56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress that signed the Declaration of Independence have gone on the record to say Mr. Thirty Pences actions have all the earmarks of a traitor.
Granted, there is strong competition.
Great nickname Based!!! I always called him out on accepting his 30 pieces of sliver, but Mike 'Thirty' Pence is classic!
I like that name! 😄
Nailed it! 🐊
30 pieces of silver?
Barr could have put the Hillapig in prison. He was a Judas, as were Milley, Bolton, Wray and Pompeo.
Bloato Barr comes close. So does Milley. So does Bolton. So does Wray.
Next year or sooner... we will include Waltz, Rubio and Bondi... maybe even Kash.
Waltz is already on his way out, it seems. Rubio is the front man at State, but Witkoff is the real player. I'm not sure about Bondi. She talks a good game, but the whole Epstein release was very disappointing. Same for the Kennedy release. Patel is unknown at this point--other than sending DC agents to the Indian reservations.
I hope Waltz is out soon. He is a Zionist-sucking neocon. Rubio is too.
Bondi and Kash are TBD, but they seem to have been compromised in some manner... Kash was going to take down Schiff... and yes, the Epstein, 911 and JFK files release was very likely stopped by AIPAC, as Israel was deeply involved in all three.
Israel and AIPAC seem to control Trump too... he is leaning towards war with Iran, which would be a bigger disaster by far than his nutty tariffs.
Pence is no different than the rest of the Globalists.
Slavery is profitable for the slaveholder.
We're just breathing machines for his wallet. Our protestations are just white noise to him.
I still wonder about the significance of the coin he accepted at the end of evening proceedings on Jan 6.
Pence is the Republican equivalent of The Great Walz of China.
I bet he even loads his gun with his ball sack.
<spews coffee everywhere > 😂😂😂😂
<sigh> I just did the laundry last night. <wiping up coffee> 🤣🤣
Now that is funny!
Hahahahahahah
I'm so happy I didn't have ny coffee near me while reading this. Great one!
OMG. That is hysterical!
Walz has "unloaded" a lot of guns too... Pence's may be one...
Ditto a lot of young men he took to China with him...
Lmao. Hahaha. That made my day.
Pence and his 30 pieces of silver? I wonder where that will get him without repentance....???
Yes….
I always respected Thomas Sowell and was sad to hear his commentary on the tariffs. He is fearful of them causing another depression. This time I hope he's wrong.
Note
I’m reading Sowell’s Basic Economics now, and it’s fantastic. However, one of the things that I’m noticing is that one’s judgement of the “best” economic move is based largely upon one’s end goal.
From what I’m reading (and I’m admittedly brand new at this) Sowell prioritizes the lowest price on items, period. With open markets (which we don’t really have) it is definitely cheaper to produce certain items like coffee, sugar, produce, etc. in areas where they naturally grow and then export them. But most of us see the importance of rebuilding the American economy for reasons which include, but aren’t limited to, economics. Trump has a different end game, which will hopefully lead to more open markets that are able to react more normally without government manipulation.
Anywho, I’ll have to track down Sowell’s response and check it out. I have been thinking about him as I’ve watched this tariff news develop.
Well and I can't help but think low prices are not necessarily the be all end all for everything, perhaps groceries excluded. Cheap often does not jive with 'quality' - hence we replace appliances (which in real dollars are actually cheaper than they used to be) every 5-7 years instead of the 30 years we got from our Maytag washer that my husband's grandma gave him when he graduated college in 1985. My mom's year old coffeemaker just shot craps. Yes, it was cheap. Closets in 1950's era homes were a fraction of the walk in closets that are now size of my bedroom growing up. I have too many friends to count who can't park their cars in their garages due to them being full of either 'toys' or stuff they rarely or never use. Storage units popping up like mushrooms all over my town. Homes built today over twice the size they were in the 50's and 60's even as average family size has shrunk. https://www.newser.com/story/225645/average-size-of-us-homes-decade-by-decade.html
There were 4 of us girls who grew up in a 1000 sq ft home with my mom and dad. We survived. (although sharing a room with my messy sister was the source of more than a few conflicts, haha)
I am guilty too - I could go a month without doing laundry and still have clothes in my closet. But we CAN use our garage to park our cars, lol.
Bottom line the vast majority of us have way too much crap we don't really need or use. And don't get me started on all of the $5+ coffee places out there when most actually own a coffee pot that makes coffee for a fraction of that. There are 4 within a mile of my home and they all have lines at the drive throughs when I pass by. Higher prices may hurt in the short run but if we just focused on 'needs' over 'wants' we can get through this.
Totally. Price isn't the end all. I'd pay double for meat that comes from happily raised and cared for animals. And similar for other goods.
Health is Wealth.
So right. I've been buying clean fish from small fishermen via the Sitka Seafood Market for several years, and even though it's expensive I couldn't be happier. More recently started buying meat from the Seven Sons regenerative farm in Indiana. I'm sure there are more sources out there, and hope their number is increasing. It costs a bit more to get healthy food, but it's worth it in the long run. Bonus: you get to feel virtuous!
My husband and I always roll our eyes when we drive past houses that have 75K worth of cars sitting in front of the garage and 3K worth of CRAP inside the garage.
When we moved back to the states in 1989 my dad said he would buy us a Whirlpool washer and dryer if we had a baby. Being the compliant daughter that I am, I got the washer and dryer and a year later along came the baby. The washer and dryer bit the dust about 8 years ago and I cried as they were hauled to the dump. My son will be 35 soon....he is still in good shape. It was a good deal.
Yes a guy in our neighborhood posted on our neighborhood FB page with a picture of his almost brand new car that was stolen out of his driveway overnight - probably a $50K car easy. I wanted to post (but didn't) saying 'what was it doing in the driveway? You have a garage!? At least half of the homes in our middle class neighborhood don't park their cars in their garages - I laugh as I back out of my (heated) garage on mornings they are out scraping ice/snow/frost off their running to warm up cars. Guess it's petty - our next door neighbors do have 4 kids and he has a handyman biz so I understand their 'having a lot of stuff' stage of life, but a lot of these folks don't even have kids still at home and still have full garages.
My garage is my shop. No car has been in it since 1990.
Well at least it's useful stuff. 😆 One neighbor was a professional magician and he kept all his show supplies + he used to put out a huge Halloween display that kids would come for blocks around to see. He retired from all that and sold off all that stuff, telling me, now we can finally park our cars in the garage! Five years later, cars are still sitting in the driveway - a squirrel got in under one of his cars and chewed up a bunch of wiring, complained it cost him $3 grand to fix. Don't know what's in that garage now!?
Petty....I am with you. Scrape away!!
A great deal! 💖
Cheap crap from China. Time to wean off it.
IN 11 years I have gone through 2 LG refrigerators. I am done with them. I just purchased a Whirlpool. I was looking at GE, but apparently China bought them.
There are no appliances made in America anymore. The last great hold out, kitchen aide, sold to whirlpool,which is all made in china. They are probably assembled here but all parts made in china. Sucks. Give me thirty year old kitchen aides and I’ll get another thirty years out of them
Have you looked at Speed Queen? I think they may be made in USA, components though I'm unsure.
But I agree, using an old laundry set of Sears Kenmore.
My refrigerator came from Sears - model year 2000. Still works great.
Where I live, the hard water is so bad that it destroys appliances. My condo was not built with a copper coil installed, so I am not able to install a water softener without spending thousands of dollars (and my crazy neighbor’s approval to dig under her garage, which is one of those garages full of crap mentioned in these comments.) so I’ve had to replace dishwasher and washing machine, and the ice maker in my fridge crusted over a while ago, so I just use ice trays.
Coffee makers only last a year with this water, so I have water delivered and only use the filtered water for coffee… my Nespresso machine has so far lasted 6 years, and I occasionally run the cleaner fluid through it. Much cheaper than Starbucks and I can make my own caramel macchiato at home.
@Starsky- you can't plumb a filter into the line? We have hard water, too.
The only thing I can do is add a filter to the output, like a shower head. I’ve had two different water filtration guys out to look at it. During construction, they needed to add a copper coil next to the water heater, and the original buyer did not add that option. (The same buyer selected granite countertops that look exactly like a chocolate chip protein bar. 😆) So they would need to run a pipe to the water source, which would require digging up concrete and going under the garage next door. That’s the only way I could add a filtration system to the overall water line that would run to washing machine upstairs, dishwasher downstairs, and all throughout the house.
I added the filtered water delivery, so I use that for drinking, cooking, coffee, etc., but that’s the only (affordable) option. It’s a real problem, as the hard water corrodes everything—I’ve had to completely replace the parts in the toilets, and all the other appliances have had to be replaced. I throw a half cup of Borax in the washer with each load, which helps a little bit (clothes washed in this water come out stiff and scratchy, even with fabric softener added.)
I was talking to a restaurant owner in my neighborhood and he invested thousands in a water filtration system in his restaurant to protect his investment in appliances.
@Starskey- oh, I get the hard water stuff. Try baking soda in the wash. It'll soften the water, kill bacteria, and get things nice and clean.
You took the thoughts right out of my head - described our current situation perfectly. Thanks!
Best car I had was a 35-year-old beetle. It was reliable.
And pretty. It got stolen.
Then I had (living in Europe) a Saab, Land Rover, Peugeot, Renault, Citroen. The LR was pretty good. ALL the others were unreliable expensive disasters.
we had an ancient citroen when I was growing up, and my dad kept it running long past it's due date. We all loved that car.
The only foreign stuff that is(was?) Really good are high end German cars and appliances. I had an amazing Gaggenau oven for 25 years.
@Astra- I just sold my 2001 LR Disco II 2 years ago. I absolutely loved that thing and thenew owner loves it, too.
Great points and I agree. Although personally I enjoy going to fancy coffee shops and having a nice pastry and coffee. Sure I can make coffee at home but it’s not the same. I can’t make a latte easily and sometimes I just like to go out 🤷♀️ It’s definitely not a need but that’s ok too, it’s like going out for lunch or dinner, for me, since I rarely do that. At least it’s not buying extra stuff I need a storage unit for 😉😆
But yes, price isn’t the be all and end all, for sure.
Another thing Sowell doesn’t seem to address is the lopsided nature of these tariffs. I can’t really support us having few or no tariffs when everyone else has numerous heavy tariffs for our exported goods. How is that fair or how is that helping our economy and our people??
Coffee shops are where I go to have a coffee & covid discussion with a friend or someone who is possessed with TDS.
Oh I meet people for coffee - both business and personal. Just not every day.
But many people make that a daily routine. My mom's caregiver would show up every day with a huge Starbucks coffee and then complained to her about having trouble paying her bills. My mom told her she could drink her coffee for free and that she needed to quit wasting money at Starbucks and save that money for her bills, lol. She just laughed and said she needed to treat herself in the mornings.
See, that’s the issue. Not having fancy coffee, having it every day when you are having trouble paying your bills. She needs a good dose of Dave Ramsey lol 😆
Davism: "if you're in debt the only way you should see the inside of a restaurant is if you're working there to pay off debt" 😆
There's also the environmental impact of all the cheap garbage that ends up in a landfill in a very short time period. I sometimes think the global warming hysteria has been used to distract from our production of solid waste, a very real problem.
Agree. We did have a local place that carried parts and did repairs on all sorts of things and we do try to repair vs replace when we can. But the repair place went under (after 60 years in business) in 2021 - sad - I suppose a victim of our throw-away culture.
That book is currently on my desk and I've been reading it to help my son with his Econ requirement for high school. I greatly respect Thomas Sowell too but the thing I'm just now beginning to appreciate is how for all the talk about "free trade," we actually haven't had that in a long time. I will have to read what Sowell is saying about the tariffs.
Trump seems more focused on fair trade rather than misnamed free trade.
I agree. I didn't have any idea about how unfair trade conditions have been historically.
Fair Trade instead of Free Trade. Great way to frame it.
Considering the Trump Tariffs are just reciprocal (same as they are imposing on us) then that seems reasonable.
Yes. I don't believe Reagan meant "free trade" to mean what it became. I believe he meant "fair trade" for both parties involved, not the host (the USA) getting sucked dry by the internal and external parasites and leaches.
If charity begins at home, so then prosperity as well. Producing high value manufactures domestically is not a mortal sin, it is the health and wealth of a nation. It is the future.
All the 'free trade' talk was Globalist nonsense cultivated in their schools and incestuous organization. Something had to be done about the massive trade imbalance. It was so bad that America had nothing further to lose. America was close to a total collapse.
Increasing manufacturing here in the US is important for things like medications. We really shouldn't be relying on China for antibiotics! Some things just mean more when it comes to National security, and override other interests.
AND remember the shortages of stuff during the Pandemic?
But how to we trust the nations drug manufacturers again?
Pfizer, Astra-Zeneca, J&J?
Thanks for that assessment!
I'm a Thomas Sowell (and Rand Paul) fan and generally trust their takes on the "current thing." That said, I also remind myself: No one possesses a crystal ball. Everything is opinion. There is no such thing as perfection. Only time will tell.
I use to be a Rand Paul Libertarian. But that movement has just turned into a free for all. Open borders and full globalism? That destroys cultures and societies. We need to preserve and rebuild what we still have left of that.
He and his wife were heavily invested in Gilead, the makers of Run! Death is Near. I mean, remdesivir .
I love Sowell, too. But Sowell may not be seeing the "big picture."
I don't know how savvy an economics critic he is. He's brilliant with social commentary.
It's difficult, especially I've found for the older crowd to which Sowell belongs (I think here of my 80 year old MIL too), to evaluate systems as they actually are as opposed to the way they once were or even maybe should be.
I believe that is his background...he is an economist. He was originally a communist in this ideology until he began to look at it through the lens of reality and then he became a capitalist.
Interesting! I should have researched. Well, I hope that it's one of those situations where he's wrong or sort of wrong, like Noam Chomsky on vaccines.... where he totally lost the entire plot. But it sounds to me like Sowell really has his head screwed on right, so now I am really watching closely to see what this tariffs situation shakes out like.
I have a friend who is very worried about his 401K as he's newly retired, he says it might be decimated. But I don't really understand the reason.
The worst thing to do is panic and sell when the stock prices are low. In time, the market will come back and hopefully it will come back better than before. I'm not a financial expert and anything I say isn't worth the price of a cup of coffee.
That's nearly word for word what I told him, but he is in panic mode so it didn't register.
One should never, ever make financial decision when one is in a panic. Maybe he should seek a good financial counselor..
Agree and he has one. I don't know if a panicked person can hear reason though.
😕
It seems establishment economists are stuck in the status quo. They, like the medical establishment, don’t like disruption nor disrupters like Trump. Their minds are closed & they have a fear of the unknown, new way of governing. This “trade war” is the only way to begin righting the ship.
True that we don't know how a new "experiment" of sorts will turn out 'til it's done!
He was correct on tariffs, IMO... just because we bought a ton of stuff from overseas, after our corporations sold out America and shipped their mfg elsewhere... causing a big trade imbalance... it does not mean that other countries were or are "ripping us off".
I checked on-line and I see no date of death and the references I see about him say "is" not "was."
Yes, I was mistaken... I could have sworn he had passed... I have not seen him on TV at all for long time... due, I/m sure, to his 90+ age...
Good man.
You may be thinking of Armstrong Williams.
Anyone have insights into Rand Paul's bill blocking the Canada tariffs? Was disappointed with that too, but maybe I'm missing something?
He's a libertarian type. Anything that smacks of being in a group, like protecting our economy, smells like fascism to him. So free trade between consenting individuals is what he believes in, even if there is collateral damage.
The flaw in that idea is that "free trade" between individuals in the US must follow all sorts of laws and regulations that do not apply to "free trade" between a US citizen and a citizen of China.
Control. Also Grassley joining up with leftist Maria Cantwell (D-W) to try & force Trump to get Congressional approval before his tariff moves.
I used to like Grassley, but he seems to be succumbing to all the Fauci flu jabs and becoming a poster child for term limits... 91 years old. Cantwell is no fan of the Constitution, not sure why he is 'allied' with her on this issue...
I am not liking Massie much. I rather he let all this play out before he starts putting barriers up. Congress does vote for what is best for this country, they have been voting party lines with some RINOs voting D.
Same thoughts. Very sus.
I heard the Providences tariff between each other so why is Canada so pissed at us?!?
Providence is in Rhode Island. Canada has Provinces.
Thanks
Canada has roughly the same population as California - just over 1/10 of the USA. We rely on selling (mostly resources) to USA. Close - usually friendly - market.
He’s a libertarian, very doctrinaire on free markets and thus free trade. Tariffs are a massive departure.
Thanks for that great evaluation.
Wondering the same
Just a thought, obviously Sowell is a smart guy but the way conservatives lavish praise on him seems a bit over the top. I've always suspected it's a subconscious form of virtue signaling, "see our hero is a black guy so we can't possibly be racists".
Conservatives have been so mind-manipulated by the media as racists, for decades and decades, that we unconsciously fall all over ourselves to praise black people that happen to think like us. How many white economists can conservatives quote? Not many I suspect.
People need to break out of this mental prison.
Senator John Kennedy: “My experience with economists in Washington is that for every economist there is an equal and opposite economist, and they’re both usually wrong.” Another time, he remarked that economic forecasting in Washington “makes those late-night psychic hotlines look respectable.”
That man sure can turn a phrase!
I love Senator John Kennedy's brain - so clever!
You've made a point I'll take time to consider as it's a new perspective for me. I'm not particularly knowledgeable about Sowell, but there are other black conservatives I especially appreciate and I never looked at it this way. So I really will think about what you've said.
However, there are other reasons besides race for people to love someone like Sowell. It's the same reason I love certain of the medical freedom heros who spoke up for us all during covid. It took so. much. courage. I respect that and can never forget it. I've even called them heros just now and it's obviously nothing race related.
So, back to black conservatives. They get the harshest criticism from the left. Stuff that makes me very angry. They get criticized by leftist whites for being too white and everyday uninformed democrat blacks call them traitors in various slang terms. I've watched in shock media videos of the abuse they get. The reason it's shocking to me is that I see the left say they are "anti racist," but they will say far more racist, abusive things about a black conservative than a white one. It's the same strategy as the left used against doctors who spoke against vaccine mandates or advocated for vaccine injured people. Immediately they pulled out every weapon to take these guys out so others would learn from it and be afraid.
They don't want there to be such a thing as a black conservative, so it is making oneself a target to be one. How could we not admire that kind of courage? So I think we instinctively admire a smart black conservative who took all these arrows and kept on going. They are doing for black people what medical freedom heros did for other medical practitioners: making it okay to speak up, showing it can be done. We see and respect that.
It’s not virtue signaling and has nothing to do with race. Read “The Thomas Sowell Reader” and you’ll understand the measure of the man. He’s a national treasure.
Lol, a national treasure. Your own language is exactly the over the top praise I mentioned, you couldn't have made my point more strongly if intended. He's a very smart guy and a deep thinker, but so are about 100,000 other Americans.
I knew people wouldn't be able to process this intellectually and would react emotionally, but it's important people at least consider a few things:
1) Thomas Sowell is intelligent and erudite but he's hardly an oracle. Plenty of just as smart and erudite people take issue with many of his conclusions.
2) Conservatives have been called racists for so long they feel compelled to prove otherwise. Whether it's elevating smart black people to superhuman status, or excusing the behavior of minority criminals, it's done from a position of defensiveness. People don't even realize they are doing it.
The media has so mind-raped people that they cannot make objective evaluations but feel constantly compelled to prove to the world that they aren't what the media says. This makes them mental slaves as they can't think independently and objectively.
Just look at the fuss caused by me merely suggesting Sowell isn't the end all be all that people make him out to be. Doesn't that suggest they are reacting emotionally rather than from a reasoned opinion?
I've noticed this too. And if there ever was a real pandemic in America, it's the pandemic rise in inability to think.
The 'education system' in America long ago abandoned teaching people the basics of how to think precisely because they the master class did not want people thinking. But the unintended consequence of this design is that the so-called leadership class also largely lost the ability to think, and this in inverse proportion to the rise of ideology.
I noticed, for example, that each succeeding generation of the Bush family was dumber than the preceding one. And I read that elite preparatory school were truncating vocabulary under the utilitarian assumption that too rich a vocabulary hindered the ruling class in communicating with the Great Unwashed. And so the aim was no longer a drive to excellence, but the cultivation of mediocrity.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
"each succeeding generation of the Bush family was dumber than the preceding one."
Jeff C - you’re trying waaaaay too hard. Talk about emotional… Just sayin’. Although with your comment “can’t think independently and objectively”, I suspect you’re only interested in stirring up trouble here. In any case, I’ll move on to someone who’s serious.
He is could be considered a national treasure simply for the topics he has been prepared to tackle through the years and the insights he has opened into our culture, immigration, the effect of pandering to race etc - all national obsessions.
No, I'm just saying things that you've never considered and it's causing cognitive dissonance.
You've been told by the Left your entire life that 1) racism is the unpardonable sin and 2) conservatives are racists. Because you unthinkingly accepted #1, you feel compelled to prove #2 is untrue. This is what leads you to make absurd statements like "Thomas Sowell is a national treasure". You do it without even realizing it (hence the cognitive dissonance). Yeah he's a smart guy, but come on.
There is nothing wrong with making observations regarding group behavior and dynamics. It's not "racism" but God-given pattern recognition. It's an objective fact that Asians dominate university admissions and Blacks dominate violent crime stats, you are allowed to notice it and it's not random chance. But this has been weaponized against you as a member of the country's dominant ethnic group (i.e. white Christians). Not only are you not allowed to notice group differences, but at the same time you must feel guilty about them as having caused it and pay restitution. That's why I say people have been mind-raped, people accept without even thinking about the absurdity of it.
When Jeffrey Dahmer was asked why almost all his victims were minorities, he replied with although he was a murderer and a cannibal, he wasn't a racist. In his mind, being a racist was the worse thing possible, sure he killed people and ate them, but he ignored their skin color as (God forbid) he wasn't a racist, that would be awful.
This is the mindset most conservatives are trapped in, which is why they fall all over themselves praising accomplished Blacks (Sowell, Colin Powell, Walter Williams, etc.). They accept the Left's framing and defensively try to refute it without thinking. They make ridiculous statements like, "Liberals are the real racists" without even realizing they are reinforcing the Left's disingenuous premise.
Jeff - Again, you’re trying way too hard on this. You have No idea who I am or how I make decisions or why I think what I think. And your pronouncements such as “making absurd statements” is, in itself, absurd. I really find all of this really obnoxious. I won’t engage with you again.
Jeff C is a maggot... and not fit to lick Sowell's boots...
that's quite a statement... I am not much of a fan of negroids in general.
Thomas Sowell is still alive and writing at 94 years old.
Jeff C appears to be alive as he is writing but what he writes may be caused by brain death.
LOL!! Yes, Jeff is a roach, with a brain as dead as his breath...
I really thought I had read that Sowell had died... I don't ever see him on the tube and I used to see him fairly often... I have great respect for the guy... while despising the BLM and NAACP scum, and the pathetic "reparations" beggar parasites...
Again, what have you accomplished in life other than shooting your mouth off?
Why are you interested, Pee Wee? You don't get enough action at the local bath house?
Your comments betray your low intellect and gender confusion... did your daddy make you do bad things?
Why do you post so much... do you not realize that you are widely despised and thought of as an ignorant clown eunuch?
I learned a lot from Milton Friedman when Phil Donahue had him on his show decades ago. It was a great series.
Would love to find it and watch again.
I think you are confusing conservatives with Democrats! Have you read any of Sowell’s books?
He is reacting here like an establishment economist interested in the lowest costs for the customer.
We don’t have to be in lockstep you know. It is possible to have dissenting opinions without being thrown out of the party.
Sowell, to my knowledge, isn't even conservative, is he? I always got the impression he's sort of a conservative-leaning centrist or independent.
He is definitely wrong!
Without question, a tariff war will cause economic pain. Whether or not the people advising Trump understand this, I do not know. Regardless, the real objective of the tariffs may be political rather than economic and they are willing (for us) to pay the economic price. This is only a conjecture on my part.
The one man I do respect on this subject is Armstrong. Here is his post from today...............................................
Tariffs are NOT Reciprocal
Posted Apr 4, 2025 By Martin Armstrong
...The assumption that tariffs should be determined by “half of the surplus” rule ignores the reality that trade wars are not linear. These tariffs are NOT “reciprocal” as the Trump Administration insists. They are not looking at the actual tariffs set by other nations. Those advising Trump believe that other countries will want to negotiate “tariffs” to permit free trade, but instead they are simply hoping to close trade deficits, and that simply cannot occur. Thursday’s sell-off is indicative of capital flowing out of the US. The Trump Administration basically told the world that America is closed for international business, and capital is responding to the threat. The real impact of these tariffs will soon come as we move deeper into a period of stagflation.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/world-trade/tariffs-not-reciprocal/
I think Jeff explained the Trump's strategy with the tariff war well. It's not just to even the field 'fair trade vs free trade', but to get other concessions from our trading partners. (like Jeff's idea that Starmer may cough up some perps from Russiagate).
Exchange. Rate. Follow the exchange rate. USD to CAD, USD to EUR, USD to MXN, USD to GBP, etc.
This will be where the rubber hits the road about tariffs. If, as predicted by esteemed economists, the USD goes UP in value vs. other currencies any increased tariff cost is offset by greater purchasing power in the nation that's been tariffed, their currency value goes down relative the the USD. Which makes an increased tariff a net wash for the stronger USD for buyers exchanging dollars.
In a dynamic economy many factors come into play, tariffs don't stand alone, act as a static 1:1 influence in an economy. Put things in motion and many other things result besides the direct impact. An eye to exchange rates will tell all.
Think about it, what currency will other nations flee to? China's? the Euro? Russia's? The only other viable international exchange system existing today is BRICS, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. Are the Europeans and Canadians going to start doing business with Putin to hurt Trump? I've seen many foreign policy pivots in my life before, but that would take the cake.
USD wins any tariff war today, in 2025. Maybe in 2030 things would've been different had we been subjected to more of the Biden/Obama/Bush/Clinton/Bush trade policies. But as of today the USD is still the king of all currencies. And Trump's actions will ensure it remains the king of all currencies. Which allows the US to ride out any tariff/trade war that adversaries and frenemies alike wish to engage in.
Yes... and I think Trump agrees with you.
Trump has acknowledged that this will be painful for a while.
Exactly. Jeff:
“Civilizations at this late stage,” he explained, “are morally hollow, and thus fragile and prone to abuses of power, like censorship, lawfare, and the weaponization of government agencies.”
Fixing it is a big job.
Armstrong just posted this...................................
Trump’s Tariffs are Winning
Posted Apr 4, 2025 By Martin Armstrong
I have said on various podcasts that a 10% tariff is really a tariff. Beyond that, it is political to force free trade. Most countries are dropping tariffs on US goods, creating what Trump actually was trying to create – FREE TRADE. The belligerent one is, of course, France. Macron has a Napoleon Complex, which is why he has been pushing for war, offering nukes to Germany, and trying to supplant the United States as the savior of Europe, being the 3rd largest nuclear power....
Macron, according to sources, is urging fill retaliation against the Trump that the EU should block all US goods and push for capital controls to prevent money from flowing to the US. He already uses non-tariffs pretending it to be “quality” control outright blocking some products.
However, Macron is also pushing for war with Russia, offering Germany nukes to replace the US as the savior of Europe. He thinks war will elevate France to the leadership of Europe because of its nukes...
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/trade-war/trumps-tariffs-are-winning/
Good luck, France! Thanks for the update, Phil.
The other side of the coin is that something had to be done. And the truth is that America was subsidizing the economies of the rest of the world and running deficits to do it. And this has been done at the expense of the non-commercial and non-financial classes, who were being devastated into third poverty for many decades now, literally being sold by their 'betters' into financial slavery.
One could also make arguments about the 'country living beyond is means', subsidy and trade imbalances and the allowing of gold and silver money (which restrict excesses) to lapse. And this would be only the tip of the ice burg as to 'what went wrong' and which inevitably led to off-shoring. And without waxing effusively verbose, I say that the entire 'can of worms' economically speaking is very complex, and when it comes to economics there are no infallible popes.
As well, I often ask myself this. How was it possible that earlier America had tariffs for decades on end, came to displace England as the manufacturing center of the world and still rise to dominance in world trade? And just why do other countries do everything in the book to achieve trade advantage, including currency exchange advantage ... but the United States continually shoots itself in the foot? And why does the United States throw real economics out the window in favor of Globalist ideologically based fairy tale inventions funded largely by money printing which in turn is the death and the robbing of us all save but the Anointed Grifting Few?
I also look at another key input, the cost of manufacturing and competitiveness. I wonder, for example, at robotics and the leveling of labor cost which will reshape the map of the world? Cost of energy input? In the restructuring of the United States, this could be a huge competitive advantage.
Armstrong is smart and he is one of my regular stops. But there are things which he does not consider. And ditto for Bonner and Casey.
In short, something had to be done. The United States was on the brink of collapse. And even if Trump's policies were to lead to outright collapse, we had nothing to lose. Because that's were we were headed anyway. As it is, I am cautiously optimistic. And I realize that it is not just tariffs, but it is also the rest of the overall restructure package which has to succeed. It's still, nonetheless, too early to rush to judgment.
Great comment for thought! And you are so right: we had nothing to lose for we were already at the edge of destruction. As you said at the beginning, for decades, Americans were "literally being sold by their 'betters' into financial slavery." One only has to look around today and all you see is financial slavery to indebtedness. No one is self-sufficient! I can not think of anything more anti-American and, more importantly, more anti-Christian than that.
This all goes back to what was done in 1913 as I commented elsewhere:
...The Seventeenth Amendment (direct election of Senators - the final act of centralizing power in the Federal Gov't and gutting the Constitutional protection of the Sovereign States which began with Lincoln's War of Northern Aggression in 1861)
...The Federal Reserve Act signed into law by Pres Wilson which enslaved America to the international banking debt system
...The Sixteenth Amendment (income tax) which put the shackles of debt slavery upon each and every American in servitude to the international banking system.
The above enslavement of the American people to an international oligarch debt system was made possible by the political destruction of State sovereignty in the war of 1861. That war forever changed the course of American history and made 1913 inevitable.
I completely agree with you conclusion that "something had to be done" even if it resulted in collapse. It is definitely too early to pass any judgement. Trump and his team are working with many factors and economics is only one. I suspect that his tariffs are not purely based on economics but rather they have a political usefulness. I also think this is supported by the way they have been set up so Trump can increase, decrease or eliminate them at will. This is something I've never seen done before. That tells me he is using them to achieve political ends, not just economic. I also am cautiously hopeful.
I may have mentioned it previously, but I came across a little book by John W Burgess, written 1923, "Recent Changes (!) in American Constitutional Theory". He was called the Father of Political Science in America. In it he laments three things that were direct attacks on the pursuit of LIFE: Selective Service unlimited to wars of defense at home. LIBERTY: Espionage Act. And, PROPERTY/pursuit of happiness: Income Tax. It is very interesting. He wrote as he retired from being a professor and political advisor to presidents. Prescient.
Definitely prescient! Thanks for the reference. He amazingly dissected what was going to happen. From the 3 seeds you listed of LIFE, LIBERTY & PROPERTY, sprang ALL the tyranny we see today and this all from what was done in 1913.
Save these thoughts for commenting again. Superb example of why it is so important to know history!
So far, we are getting relief. And if there is a reversal which sticks, it will be authoritarian in nature ... something akin to what the Russian Federation has (which is better in a nominally Christian way than the totalitarian Chinese practices). Since Christianity has been largely neutered in the Western world, there is no going back to 17th and 18th century America. And then there are the invasion of the robots which will change every and then to level the labor cost input throughout the world economy.
Post May 1945 in Germany and post the Soviet dissolution announced on December 31st, 1991 ... both of these economies were pretty much gutted. In both cases it was a good twenty years for those economies to get rebuilt, and an extra ten on top of that to full strength. As an historical footnote, the Russian Federation was not strong enough to contest the US and NATO in the 2014 era. And as it worked out, the historical stage was better set for Russia given the proxy war, the weaponizing of SWIFT, covid terrorism, shifts in world attitudes and so on ... much better for Russia. And better to have a fully deployed hypersonic missile system either deployed or just coming into deployment.
So the United States has to have a normalization across all fields of human endeavor. Total banishment of the anarchy and chaos of what we have had to go through for the last ten to twenty years. Col. MacGregor hints at some of this in this interview.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iYbmOW6Vb8
So many pieces, reforms, exorcisms of bad behaviors have to happen before America has a prayer for an approximate recovery of its once former itself. But even then it will never again be the same world as it was in our time of rearing. The demographics are now to far gone for that to happen.
Dave, you are prophetic in your analysis and IMO, you have stated the whole situation to a T.
The way I say it, we have entered an era of "the political strongman". This is exemplified by Trump, Xi, Putin and to a lesser extent, the megalomaniacs of the EU who will extinguish themselves against the boulders of the big three.
I find myself in an interesting mental watershed. Having spent most of my life supportive of the ideals of America's founders, reality has now caused me mentally to actually look forward to an "authoritarian regime", modified by Christian ethical restraint, that kills and suppresses the nihilistic impulses that have infected political society for the last 20+ years.
Go Trump!
Fallen Christianity in the West has given to us a schizoid habit of mind. For example, a Westminster Calvinist will long for an authentic American Exceptionalism based upon law practise tributary of Christian Law ... and as was manifested in the original states' constitutions. But the operating reality is as you say, a strong man like the one who is now a busy bee in the issuing of executive orders. This is precisely what Augustus did with Rome. And as of yore so it is in our modern example, a rule with a thin old republican glazing pasted over the new body politic fact.
We reap what we sow. And having done so, the best we Americans can expect is an authoritarian regime quasi-conditioned by a watered down Christian past. But nonetheless, a menacing dagger lingers, poised to strike with any sudden darken shift in political fortunes. And the set in concrete reality of the moment is that there appears to be no going back to what once was. The demographics are too much changed and the memory of what once was has faded ... and is no longer taught.
"Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil" -- Thomas Mann
You put into narrative my state of mind very well. I am thankful for the day we have, that is, a Trump regime day rather than a Kamala regime day. And sufficient unto the day are the troubles of the day without worrying about tomorrow. There is much for us to do while the sun is shining. Tomorrow will take care of itself if we take advantage of the present to do what we can to prepare.
I think Providence has given us a reprieve from a complete cultural collapse for which I am thankful for the sake of my grandchildren. One cannot look at grandchildren and not realize the beauty that the future could hold because of them.
And as you pointed out in your previous comment, the demographics in America have changed so much, our old paradigms have become obsolete. These are not the demographic changes of a growing culture absorbing mass immigration such as in the 19th century but rather we have become a morally and intellectually weak geriatric culture being hit with a massive alien migration that is openly hostile to the existing culture and is not compatible.
This has got to produce a lot of internal conflict which will only get worse and on top of that, there is the fact that the USG Empire itself will eventually collapse as all empires do when they can no longer be sustained. I see two possibilities. We can disintegrate and collapse into ruin as the Roman Empire did or we can "voluntarily" pull back as Russia was forced to do and focus inward on building a strong and stable society without trying to impose our rule on the rest of the planet. I now see the latter as a distinct possibility initiated by the Trump regime. I think this is what we should be working towards. If we don't, then the reprieve Providence has given us could be short-lived.
All of which brings me to the existential question: the revival of the American church, the body of Christ, to once again be salt and leaven in the culture. There is a reason Jesus said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world." The American church has effectively bought into the dispensational lie that Christ's kingdom will be an earthly kingdom to be brought about by His physical return when He will impose His kingdom on earth by force. I cannot think of anything more antithetical to His teachings which is the same lie Satan offered Him in the wilderness in Matt 4:8-9. If the American church does not reject the error of Dispensationalism, then we may yet have to suffer the prior more difficult alternative of a complete collapse of society.
It's Sunday, so I read some Westminster, took in an Internet sermon, plus watched the below and mostly because De Wife alluded to it. And as you know wives are the smartest people on the planet. Or so some people think! :)
https://rumble.com/v6rgv6p-andrew-isker-building-a-christian-refuge-to-fight-wokeness-transgenderism-a.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp
I live pretty much outside the world in which most other people dwell, and I always have done so since I was a child. My motto throughout life has been, "If you want everyone else's results, do what everyone else does." These days, not wanting every one else's result compel one straight into the camp of the resistance.
The video describes the state of things very well. I think you will like the commentary. It's pretty succinct.
They were very succinct! Thank you. Funny thing is, I posted this earlier this week to C&C - I think to someone's scripture postings - without first watching it and then failed to get back to watch it. Silly me. His description of the dispensational mindset was excellent. I have often alluded to the fact that dispensationalism causes Christians to retreat from society and simply sit in the church pew praying for the End Times. (Obviously this the Satan's purpose for this lie.) He puts it much better. And he so clearly describes the fact that the only reason people accept what they are being taught is because they have never read the Word for themselves. When you actually do THAT... one cannot help but see that this is NOT what Jesus was saying. Just pick up the Book and read His words!
I was impressed by their observation that the people that are being taught dispensationalism are the very best people of the church. All wonderful loving Christians, the very best people you would want to associate with. I had not really thought of that before. They have GOT to start questioning what they are being taught!
I identify with your motto. My attitude from my earliest days has been similar, "When everyone is going one way, go in the opposite direction, don't be part of the crowd." Not sure how I came by that attitude but it worked for me even on the playground. As a result, I've always been skeptical of popularly held beliefs. When I was in my latter 20's, I was attending a small, reformed church in CA. In Sunday school, the elders assigned a book by a reformed author for me to read and then give a presentation on what I had read. I don't remember his name but I'm sure you would recognize it. I found the book to be sound but seriously lacking in an understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit. Generally speaking, that is an area where I feel reformed theology needs some development. So I developed a critique of the book on that subject by simply applying relevant passages from the NT to demonstrate that the authors appreciation of the work of the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ is seriously understated. Apparently the elders were impressed. After my presentation, one came up to me and asked if I had ever taught classes before. I said no.
Thanks for drawing my attention back to this interview.
Sowell is politicalized against Trump and has been against him from the beginning. Unfortunately he is suffering from the Schellenberger Syndrome due to academic poisoning.
I’m pretty sure that quote is rather old. I need to do some more research.
What a complete disappointment that "man of God" turned out to be. If I remember correctly though, I wasn't thrilled when Trump picked him because of his behavior with DOMA. We already have enough squishes in government. We didn't need one second in command. Anyway, he's completely exposed now, so there's that.
Yes! That's right. I had forgotten about that.
I gave this man far too much deference and respect. He showed his true colors first during Covid and then in the wake of Jan. 6.
Yep, I was hoping his sales brochure was honest but nyet, it was total Barbara Streisand.
What an oleaginous cretin that WEF puppet turned out to be. Notice the WEF puppets never back down. They have to double-down on losing positions, because their handlers have so much dirt on them. Much like Trudeau, whose own brother said the powers that be have major goods on poor Justin.
My gay hairstylist swears he is gay. That would be major dirt!
Oh he's probably gay but that's not a big deal anymore. His bro hinted that it's worse... and begins with a "P".
A day with “oleaginous” in it!! Such a great word not used often enough! Thanks!!
Regarding tariffs, this former anti-Trump lefty's comments are worth your time:
https://x.com/bungarsargon/status/1907585936256352590
That was excellent NAB. Batya Sargon is or was a liberal, but is an independent, courageous thinker. Her comments on the tariff tantrums are spot on. She is 100% for rebuilding the middle class & for Trump on this. She was / is? an editor at Newsweek. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by her common sense given her msm position.
She’s passionate in her defense of Trump’s position on tariffs and rebuilding our manufacturing economy. Well worth watching her explanation.
If you get a chance read Whitney Webb and Diego's expose "All Roads Lead to Dark Winter." There is a good section on Mike Pence's involvement with the Neo-con agenda.
The traitor undertaker Mike Pence. I hope neither he nor his nasty Karen wife are sleeping these days.
That is how I tell if something is truly good or evil. It is incredibly helpful. Let's see...who hates it?? Demons? Pedos? Orcs? OK then...it must BE a GOOD thing! LFG!
I always suspected Mike was deep from within the swamp!
It's his hair, isn't it, that leads one to intuitive suspicion while awaiting obective confirmation that he is not one of us?
Remember the saying, "It's the economy, stupid?" I think the annoying James Carville came up with that one for Bill Clinton. He was right. If this doesn't correct very soon, like ASAP, the Democrats will not only take over the House in 2026, but also the Senate. Trump might as well resign if that happens... I think he's gone too far too fast with these tariffs.
I say this as someone whose 401K and retirement accounts are taking a beating right now, but what about the millions of people who have no 401K accounts? Truly. What about the Americans who have watched their livelihoods get exported to other countries in trade deals that left them SOL? I don't know if tariffs will be a net benefit at the end of the day, but is our current way of doing business sustainable? Would we rather have a system which rewards political patrons instead of hardworking men and women just trying to grasp a little of the American Dream? What other approaches can a government take? And why haven't those approaches been taken before? Why is it now everyone has thoughts but before, while in the lap of power, none of them were willing to rock the financial boat?
Again. I don't know the answer. I am not an economics expert. My estimated "value" has decreased markedly in the past few days, but I am willing to take the hit so as to save my children (five of them) and any future grandchildren, the suffering of stagnant economic future. This is obviously a multi-faceted problem and will require more than a single intervention, but it seems we have to start somewhere. Trump did run on reforming our trade practices. I voted for this.
You're not wrong about those unfortunate people. But that's not going to change the attitude of regular, not-rich people who watched their 401k lose so much value. They will vote Democrat in 2026.
Maybe. But I think there are a lot of Trump voters like me: Gen Xers, products of a "benign neglect" style of parenting, and willing to take the lumps on behalf of our progeny.
I don't know how we define "not rich" with a 401K, but I would call myself, with a modest 401K, "comfortable." Again, we lived on beans and rice for years when we were first married, never bought a new car, and made other Dave Ramsey-style choices to get where we are today. If I have to forgo European vacations as a senior so my kids have a chance to buy a house and raise a family, I'm good.
I switched mine to a gold and silver shortly after taking a beating with Biden. The returns have been great but better still I stopped hemorrhaging. That said, if you would rather live under the dem party platform than take a loss in your portfolio and you believe it will do better under commie rule....I just don't know what to say. I guess maybe the love of money is the root of all evil.
The vast majority of people out there aren't thinking that deeply, Sue. Most people out there are pretty simple and shallow, and $$$ is the be-all-end-all for them... All they see is that their 401k is worth significantly less today than it was worth last week, or even more poignantly, in February when the market was at an all-time high. They'll blame the one caught holding the bag at the time of the collapse, in this case, Trump. And the Democrats have an easy target in Trump on which to pin the blame, since the crash was/is a direct result of his bombastic tariff rollout.
It'd better correct fast, or else in 2026 we're going to see Speaker Hakeem the Dream and Majority Leader Chuck "Gargoyle Face" Schumer.
Gold and silver took a beating today.
These are the kind of people I'm thinking about Chucky:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1908020393404764408.html
Or these stories:
https://im1776.com/2025/04/02/down-the-drain/
Time will tell
Nah..should have been done long ago.
Nah...you don't know what you're talking about.
Cramer did, too. Reverse Cramer is usually accurate.
I literally LOLed at your post, still laughing.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/deeply-humbled-mike-pence-given-profile-courage-award/
I hope they are all up to date on their jabs and boosters!
Agreed!
It’s amazing to me that the new administration is 90 days old, most of Trump‘s appointments are not yet 60 days old and everybody’s bitching and whining that all the stuff that they wanted done isn’t done yet so now they’re pissed off that they voted the way they voted. I’ve never seen such thin skinned clown behavior in my life.
Also, Matt Taibbi just announced he filed a $10M libel lawsuit in federal court against Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove over her false claims against him. In the event anyone wants to hear what $71,428.57 a second sounds like, here ya go. https://x.com/Evans_Wroten/status/1907904901562380687
You don't hate the media enough - you think you do, but you don't. https://x.com/Evans_Wroten
Pearl clutchers like Andrew Sullivan are melting down from the MSM hysteria. Ignore them and hold the line: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/pearl-clutching-centrists-fake-conservatives
Yuri,
Precisely.
There is a concerted effort underway, a PSYOP, to attempt to build dissent. I'm seeing more and more of them on here. These "Conservatives" (meaning TDS dems and Never Trumper rinos) are popping up to piss and moan in an effort to undermine all the great work POTUS is doing.
IGNORE THEIR BULLSHIT. But, also, don't be afraid to engage them with facts and take them down.
Again , a thousand times YES. Give them the 2 "N's" treatment.
I was mixing it up with two of them yesterday. One thing Ive noticed is they like to build/gain "acceptance" by liking other people's posts, and then shortly after, they will toss in a negative post about POTUS or an attack on a policy they are using to build/cause dissent. Its a dead give away.
😉
hahahahahahahahaha!!!!
Good one Roland, 🤣
It’s not just them. Too many people believe what they see on msm, even though they will say they don’t trust the media any longer. I have a longtime friend who was always conservative. Moved to FL permanently before covid hit. She was never much of a social media poster before, but now she has a full out case of TDS and “occupy democrats” has become her warrior voice.
Fear makes people do and believe stupid things.
IMO, the RINOs, who are literally "wolves in sheep's clothing, have lost their cover and are now exposed to the American electorate as enemies. Finally!!
I think the American people have had enough of their bullcrap.
You are right Phil. The problem is that we have to now get them out of power and we cannot do THAT until we have legitimate elections, conducted by the people, and counted by the people. "Its not who votes, but who counts the vote."
Exactly
Small minds thst piss and moaning can be equated with a loss of personal revenue. Maybe the Transnationals can't afford them anymore.
next to "my body my choice" (except of course for covid vaccines) the left's favorite expression is "you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs," so they should be very much in tune with Trump's approach to resetting the world trade arrangements as Trump is certainly breaking more than a few eggs
thank god eggs got cheaper
amazing how stopping the killing of hundreds of thousands of chickens affects the price of eggs - who could have seen that - certainly not leftists
IDK who is worse: Andrew Sullivan or Jonathan Capehart
Ooh, tough call. I think I have to go with Capehart.
Lol
Andrew Sullivan 🤡🤡🤡
"You don't hate the media enough - you think you do, but you don't."
Challenge accepted: https://tritorch.substack.com/p/counterfeit-continuity-in-our-fourth
I think i do =j
LOL absolutely
Thank you Tritorch. Excellent Substack post.
All too true
Good for Matt! I hope he's awarded every penny.
Like you, I don't understand the instant gratification crowd. It took decades for our government to reach the level of corruption and incompetence that existed when Trump took office. It's not going to change overnight. It's going to take all four years of his term, and if we want the changes to continue beyond 2028, we need a solid majority in both the House and Senate, and JD in the White House. Gotta be patient.
I agree...all points and I'll add this: We Trump supporters NEED Congress to codify all executive action. To date, I can't point to anything the R Congress has done. Trump & his team are doing 100% of the heavy lifting. Adding insult to injury, I now hear of 4 clowns (Collins, Murkowski, McConnell, & Rand Paul) supporting Democrats on rescinding tariffs on Canada. I'm sick of Rand Paul's holier-than-thou crusade. All of us must compromise for the greater good. I don't like what's happening with my investments and real estate business, but the deficit spending, corruption, waste/fraud/abuse (i.e. status quo) was destroying all of us.
Apparently, we C&Cers see the greater good and the need to suck it up for a little while. I'm sick of politicians. I'd rather clean house and start over with patriots, risking a few good MAGA patriots getting swept up in the carnage. Yes, I'm serious.
People like the 4 aforementioned RINOS and WEFer Dan Crenshaw anger me. I want 100% Trump backed politicians to get the damn job done.
I am hoping there is a DJT version of Scummer’s ‘6 ways to Sunday’ to get Congress to cooperate. 🙏🏻
Agreed. An EO only lasts as long as the executive lasts. The EO's all need to be codified or we can end up back where we started.
Exactly right. Gotta have strong majorities, because from the looks of it there are too many Republicans afraid to put their foot on the gas. These victories will be undone by Dems if not codified.
I DO!! I want to see them hang.
Makes me think of the Israelites after Moses led them out of BONDAGE in Egypt, thru a MIRACULOUS Red Sea crossing to safety and FREEDOM....And then he takes a few days away from the camp & goes up to confer with the Most High...and what do those faithless Israelites do? They bite the Hand that feeds them! Worshipped FALSE GODS. Spit in YeHoVah 's eye! And here we are today, watching it happen all over again. 🤦🏼🤦🏼🤦🏼
Yes, history repeating itself.
If I could second this a hundred times, I would. Geez.
I hope Matt wins. That woman is so stupid that she reiterated her comments on social media - if she had kept them just in congressional record, she'd be safe. And to add to that, she used as her reference a fiction book written by Taibbi's writing partner - lol. So she based her claim on something that was entirely made-up - which everyone else but her seems to know.
Isn’t that typical these days? People want to make their voice heard far and wide. I guess they’re dying to be relevant. Making a claim based on fiction…I’m pretty sure she was just following party directives there.
She was probably going for big kudos - and sadly careened into the wall.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
I hope she is having big trouble sleeping now. At a minimum. Has she been squatting in congress long enough parlay her worth up into the millions of dollars yet? She might need it.
She might be sitting on millions but probably not 10 of them - hahahaha! I bet she's not a happy camper after that blunder.
Yes, short term thinking prevails for most voters. Problem is too many people living paycheck to paycheck (for lots of reasons - too many single parent homes, too many people in debt and too much wage stagnation) who are going to lead with whoever promises them quick fixes and or free stuff.
None of that gets fixed with or without tariffs.
Evans, I agree. It’s been a 100 days. I keep telling myself long game, but I also have to remind myself the last 4 years sucked so bad I think it’s a trauma reaction ‘hurry up Trump’ and Congress for Christ sake- MOVE on something!
Reminding myself it’s a marathon not a sprint 🇺🇸
Well, she seems nice. Who picks out her clothes? Sorry, that's catty. Good for Matt. I hope he cleans her clock.
Good one NAB. I also wonder who did her research? Prob should have vetted that info before going public. 🤦🏻♀️
Totally agree. The doomers and naysayers are incredibly annoying and demoralizing. That includes leftists, of course, but also people like Peggy Hall, Emerald Robinson, Whitney Webb. In my own personal chat group on Twitter it includes black-and-white thinkers who feel Trump has done "nothing" and been a disappointment because he hasn't fired every damn person they dislike immediately. So aggravating.
I scroll past any of these Doomstackers plus unsubscribe if necessary. I don’t have time for them.
Congrats on your cancer recovery. Did you send your story to Dr. William Makis? He's creating a library of testimonials.
Thank you! I have not, but I will. Thanks.
Nothing Trump does will ever be good enough for the Left.
Thank you. I couldn’t agree with you more. Thinking the same thing yesterday, that people easily turn into a squish. Grow a backbone. Buck up!
Libel, not liable.
Word up
Thinking about tariffs has caused me a lot of dismay, anger.
I did not imagine that we were being taken advantage of. When I say we, I mean us, regular folks. The world governments and elitist have created a process to strip money and power from us, the tax payers.
I never imagined this was happening in such a concerned manner. Finding this out has made me realize that I need to be better educated.
Jeff and a number of C&C writers have helped me with this goal.
I still subscribe to Student News Daily (former homeschool mom) and in their background section of their coverage of the tariffs they included an interview of Trump by Oprah in 1988 in which he expressed outrage at how America was being ripped off because of our trade policies.
Footage of Trump over the past forty years is impressively consistent. He has principles, in clear contrast to hypocritical politicians.
And compare that to past videos of Schumer, Bernie, Pelosi et al and see how they all changed their principles.
As Groucho Marx said, "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them...well, I have others." I guess that makes those Dems double-Marxists.
😂🎯
Their principles involve Lobbyist "influence$"
I'm hopeful for young Barron as well. Many early videos of Trump in his office and such show him with Barron as a child. Now he seems well put together and vastly mature for his age.
I have seen that clip of the young Donald. So thanks to Oprah, he has the receipts for his attitude.
Right about that time Oprah wrote Trump a letter suggesting he run for president and she could be his number 2,or so rumor has it. I believe he included it in the coffee table book he published with all the "love letters" celebrities used to send him and the photos they clamored to get with him. That is before he ran as a republican.
Garner: I saw the video. When did OW start hating Trump? She is so ‘80’s.
When he came down the escalator to run as a Republican.
"Anyone who wants to remain ignorant and free is expecting what never was and never will be". Thomas Jefferson. My favorite quote, So, hell yes. Knowledge is power, Why do you think it used o be illegal to teach a slave to read?, and why we are in this mess to start with?
Part of that knowledge being power thing... what they're not saying about tariffs is the impact of them on currency exchange rates. The strongest currency gains advantage when combined with tariffs. So while US tariffs rise the USD rises.
Which means the cost of imported goods goes down, purchasing power goes up. The increased tariff becomes a wash, net is negligible. The weaker currency exports are devalued, cost borne by exporter nation.
And if they respond with a tariff war, raise their own tariffs they just hurt themselves even more. It's a "tax" on citizens and businesses in foreign nations, not US citizens. A brilliant move by Trump. A FAFO move by Trump.
Media, academia, D's, Rino's (redundant) won't say this. But when you seek knowledge you learn this. Which is powerful.
Superb
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Saw a meme:
“If tariffs are so awful, why do 170 countries impose them?”
....and why education is controlled by the State. Think about it.
That's brilliant!
What's hilarious about the Left and the MSM (i repeat myself) is they couldn't spell tariff, let alone define it. I mean by the way their talking you'd think it was a crime against humanity.
Let me sum up what they're really concerned about:
Slavery is profitable for the slaver. That is globalism. It's not a belief system or dogma...it's simply a financial weapon.
What the MSM or the so-called financial experts won't tell you is that productivity is the biggest driver of prices in a truly free market. We just happen to be the most productive country on earth based on the output of the individual worker. Tariffs will eventually drive prices down because it will disincentivize state-sponsored competition of our rivals.
That's what the plutocrats want:
Pitting American businesses against state-backed foreign rivals, subsidized by us (the tax payer)...talk about a perverse incentive.
Onshoring businesses will allow the invisible hand to lower prices after the market has adjusted because the more we manufacture the lower the price of each unit becomes to produce. All economist know this, but are unwilling to admit what everyone learned in economics 101:
Prices are subject to the law of increasing returns because capital costs are fixed, therefore the more we make; the more the cost is distributed across the system.
And that's what they fear:
Their money is made by INCREASING the cost across our domestic system.
This is what Obama and the rest of the Globalists meant by saying "a fundamental transformation of the economy".
I have a personal plan to weather what may come: stop buying crap I don't need and be a little more discerning on what I must buy. I looked at my Amazon orders lists and holy cow.....I can do much better. We are a consumer society for sure.
One of the fascinating aspects I find of this (though likely not a motivating factor and will also never be attributed to him) is that to buy less cheap crap from far away is actually a fundamentally responsible environmental practice. The more local your purchasing (for all countries), the better for your community and the planetary resources. And I would also love that there is diversity to travel again instead of the same stuff everywhere you go.
While I agree. I do find that some of the local stuff is from far away places.
I have been weeding stuff out as well. I am by no means extravagant but I can pare down
"productivity is the biggest driver of prices in a truly free market."
Production precedes consumption! Good insight
The talking heads (not the Talking Heads, who are cool) also take advantage of the fact that economics are complicated and multi-factorial and difficult for most to understand. You can pretty much tell people anything you want about what is surely going to happen economically, and "we" don't have the capacity to discern otherwise. That's why I'm in a posture of "Let's see how this plays out." It's impossible to forecast. Too many players on the board. Too many release valves.
This is not my beautiful life…. Same as it ever was.
Time to break the sameness of tariffs.
"I am all in favor of going back to tariffs to fund the federal government. Either use them for leverage or cash flow. Increased tariffs reduce trade deficit, increase treasury revenue, decrease inflation, and increase savings. Tariffs are not the same as a sales tax that is added onto the cost for goods purchased. Tariffs will drive competition, just like prices in a free market. Countries will be fighting to compete and gain favor for lower tariffs to get market share over other countries. Done properly, this could lead to huge revenues and price reductions.
No taxes and just tariffs would be great for America. They would make it less expensive to make things in America. This would provide jobs. Tariffs will help to cut taxes but also are a long-term play. Americans may not have the patience to stomach the short-term pain of tariffs before the good results of tariffs down the road. If I had it my way, the federal government would get 100% of its revenue from tariffs and close the IRS immediately."
https://shorturl.at/SU89t
“ If I had it my way, the federal government would get 100% of its revenue from tariffs and close the IRS immediately."…… isn’t this exactly the intended plan? Eventually no income taxes and shutter the IRS for good?
Taxes were designed after WW2 to bring the country back from economic collapse. Why do we still have them today? Greed and deep state pocket lining
Indeed it is. I wrote this 2 months before any info was out. The founding fathers cats were some smart dudes.
America is 70% at least of all purchasing from Everywhere. We have always had the power to negotiate but the ogliarchs who have run our country into the ground make too much money off it.
I’m ready for NO TAXES!
Likewise! But beyond the tax issue, I think my gripe is that there is ABSOLUTELY NO VALUE received by the taxpayer. Looking at all these idiots raking in millions (via the rest of us). The utter govt waste. The fraud. No taxes can't come soon enough.
I've often said that if I had control of how my tax money is being spent and irrefutable proof that it is actually spent for the purposes I select, I wouldn't mind nearly so much paying taxes. But we don't have any control over how much or what our taxes are used for other than graft and fraud. It's sickening.
You’re close to bringing up the Triffin Dilemma. Everyone fearing the tariffs does not realize the horrible inflation we have had. This comes from being the worlds reserve currency. So our seemingly huge 401k’s don’t have nearly the purchasing power we need.
There is just one thing.
Some of them don't accept our meat or grain due to use of pesticides.
If we want to sell our crops we need to stop poisoning them.
It would be great for us as well.
Absolutely. Europe is into some woke, retarded stuff.
But on food quality they're right on the money.
GMO food is highly restricted in the EU and even Russia and beyond.
I first started to realize that my government was actually working against me during the Obamacare debate. It was perfectly obvious from the outset that many people were not going to be able to keep their doctors and their current health insurance plan; but we were bombarded with lies that many naturally believed. For millions of others, it was COVID. For more, the lies about Hunter Biden's laptop. Unchecked immigration, and the current push to bring back violent deportees, will surely sway many more Americans. Thank Goodness for Substack!
And...remember Cash for Clunkers? And then all the chipped cars show up?
And who did Cash for Clunkers hurt most? The lower income /first time car buyer who couldn't afford a new car. All the sudden there was a dearth of cheap clunkers for sale and the few that were available doubled in price...it was a bad time to replace a car.
Another Democrat boondoggle that impacted those who could least afford it, like every green program that exists.
For me it was back-to-back Republican candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney! You've got to be kidding. The slander of S. Palin when I assumed normal people would all get behind her (Reps for her conservatism and Dems b/c she was a woman). Also, when I first heard Rush Limbaugh first-hand. He wasn't the devil he was painted to be. And his montages of the mockingbird media were spot on. His quote to, that, "It's not the crime, it's the accusation" (not ver batim). So many lights went on...
Please see this. https://montanarcc.substack.com/p/trumps-liberation-day-tariff-program
Thanks for sharing
Great substack. I shared it.
Thoughts
https://shorturl.at/OXi1R
I am learning, this helps
And check out this VERY sharp guy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0alGvV0Sjc
I’ve known the elites were robbing us blind but never knew specifics. Just think, they have started investigating how the likes of Biden and AOC type people in government become millionaires. Think you’re angry about tariffs?! You might want to think about some relaxation “meds” or techniques or such before you read anything about Biden/AOC’s rise to millionaire status.
Yes, I had to go outside of the free trade mindset and really look at what was going on here and my eyes have been opened. I did not imagine how much advantage other countries were taking of us in the current tariff setup before liberation day, and add to that are 36 trillion in debt and all that money flowing out to other countries for really stupid purposes via usaid that we didn't even know about beyond the usual foreign aid, and I'm asking: how was that supposed to work out?? The average person knows that's just not a sustainable way to handle one's finances.
You might enjoy this to help understanding why the tariffs aren’t going to bring jobs back home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=594yN8rxIJo
@Ned B found a must read for you guys:
By Turfseer
The Language of Suppression: How the words “Conspiracy Theorist” and “Credible” Shut Down Inquiry Before It Begins
Language, at its best, is a tool for clarity and understanding. At its worst, it's a weapon—wielded to marginalize dissent, stifle debate, and fortify authority. Two phrases in particular—“conspiracy theorist” and “credible source”—have emerged as linguistic bludgeons in the modern era, routinely used not to explore the truth, but to silence those who dare to question it.
Let’s start with “conspiracy theorist.” It’s a term that now functions more as a character assassination than a descriptor. It no longer matters whether the so-called theorist is a Nobel Prize-winning scientist or a guy broadcasting from his garage in a tinfoil hat—once the label is applied, the conversation is over. It doesn’t refute the argument; it dismisses the person making it. It says: “Don’t listen to them. They’re not one of us.”
But what is a conspiracy if not a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful? History is bursting at the seams with them. From COINTELPRO to the Gulf of Tonkin, from MKUltra to Big Tobacco’s decades-long denial of smoking’s harms—what was once labeled “conspiracy theory” often ends up documented history. The term “conspiracy theorist,” then, doesn’t really mean “someone who believes in false plots.” It means “someone whose beliefs are inconvenient to power.”
On the flip side is the word “credible.” Sounds reassuring, doesn’t it? It conjures up images of white lab coats, press badges, and institutional logos. But credibility, in practice, is often determined not by merit, but by proximity to entrenched authority. A source is “credible” not because they’ve proven themselves reliable, but because they’re aligned with the dominant narrative. The term becomes a stamp of approval—granted to government agencies, legacy media outlets, and pharmaceutical conglomerates, no matter how many times they’ve been caught lying or catastrophically wrong.
Meanwhile, the very voices that predicted what would happen—accurately and ahead of time—are brushed aside because they don’t carry the institutional watermark. Wrong label, right answer? Too bad. You're still out.
What makes these rhetorical devices so insidious is that they pre-empt critical thinking. By branding dissent as madness and elevating conformity as “expertise,” they rewire the public to equate doubt with delusion and blind trust with virtue. It’s a linguistic form of gatekeeping, and it works frighteningly well.
The media plays a central role in this game. Journalists once prided themselves on challenging official narratives. Now, too often, they act as stenographers for those in power. When someone raises an uncomfortable question—about election integrity, pharmaceutical influence, or the origins of a virus—they’re not met with curiosity or a counterargument. They’re met with the modern-day scarlet letter: “conspiracy theorist.” Conversation terminated. Inquiry discouraged. Message received.
This isn't just about semantics—it's about who gets to speak, who gets heard, and who gets erased. When language becomes a shield for power and a muzzle for truth, we don’t just lose the debate. We lose the ability to have one.
To challenge the use of these terms is not to reject reason or evidence—it’s to demand that all claims, mainstream or otherwise, be evaluated on their substance. It’s to reclaim the terrain of open inquiry from those who would police it with buzzwords. Because when we cede our language to those who fear the question more than the answer, we’re not defending truth. We’re defending orthodoxy.
And that’s the real conspiracy.
Source: https://turfseer.substack.com/p/the-language-of-suppression
You are so right about language, which is why I don't stop telling people to use the term "Civil War" for the War of Succession, and liberals instead of bolsheviks, etc. The key is to have your ready made answer . Called a conspiracy theorist. ? My response, is I didn't know you were a shill for the CIA. And then give them the history of the term. Voter ID is rascist. So you are telling me blacks are too stupid to get an ID? You are an anti semite. No . I have no problem with people with Middle Eastern DNA, You do know that is the definition of a semite, right? It has nothing to do with religion,
"War of Succession?" Did you mean "War of Northern Aggression?"
Secession. As in, a state seceding from the Union.
And in my family, at least on the feminine side, it was called "The Recent Unpleasantness".
I, too, enjoy calling our entanglements "The Unpleasantness."
I use them interchangeably, so yes. that's what my old boss always called it.
Hitting the nail right on the head per usual. Thanks roland
Err, secession?
As in "bye", we're leaving the US, as was permitted in the constitution. A civil war is by definition a war between 2 or more factions for control of the central government. The South wanted no parts of the central government, and just wanted to succeed and form their own country.
My comment was in reply to someone misusing "succession"...
Tritorch,
Excellent read!
People are so easily manipulated through fear in many different ways.
Name calling is one of the ways people are manipulated. It’s an easy way to get people to do what you want or to silence them.
Unfortunately, most people are afraid of being called names. Our children would benefit from being taught to trust their own thoughts and opinions and to have the courage to stand by them. They need to evaluate abstractly why their foe is using certain tactics, because if someone is calling you names instead of pointing out facts why you’re possibly wrong there’s a good chance that they are manipulating you through guilt or some other emotion.
No doubt this is why in my childhood we were taught and taught and taught: Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me.
Viaveritasvita,
Me too! But look how many quiver at the thought of being called a coward, racist or anti vaxxer. They often will remain silent when they should speak out.
We are also manipulated through fear by the foods we eat -such & such is bad for you. Years later, it turns out it wasn’t so bad after all.
The government is fantastic at ruling through fear. Don’t pay taxes? Go to jail or pay heavy penalties -even if it’s an honest mistake.
Religions (not all) also use fear to manipulate people. Don’t believe? Burn in hell for eternity even if you lead a pure and unblemished life.
There are many more examples, but we are facing manipulative fear bombs everywhere.
It was words for us...
"Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread."
Isaiah 8:12-13
This has been going on for a very long time.
Control the language,control the people Orwell was onto that long ago. Probably others too. Also rewriting history. 1984 and Brave New World were required reading when I was in school. Now most kids in high school couldn't read or comprehend it even if it was required.💔
bingo
The media plays the central and largest role. For better or worse, (it would seem worse), people still consume the media and believe one side or the other, which is two sides of the same coin.
A judge in a court of law prosecuting two or more people conspiring to commit murder (or fraud, embezzlement, etc) is theorizing, with the given evidence, the validity of that conspiracy. Therefore that court judge is a conspiracy theorist.
Conspiracy theorists have been active down the centuries. Just ask Shakespeare.
https://navyoericsen.substack.com/p/william-shakespeare-conspiracy-theorist
Ad Hominem. Appeal to Authority. "Conspiracy theorist" and "credible source" are logical fallacies embedded in misleading language.
I can tell you personally that the Western Indian reservations desperately need law enforcement help. They have been invaded by Biden-era Mexican drug gangs causing an epidemic of fentanyl addiction and violence. The FBI has already busted some of these but much more is needed. The federal government has never kept its promises to Native Americans. There's a lot of catch-up to do.
Kash just deployed a bunch of agents to reservations. Saw it today
Good. I have Native American ancestry myself and have written extensively about Native Americans in my book, Our Country, Then and Now.
https://www.amazon.com/Our-Country-Then-Richard-Cook/dp/1949762858
I am totally in favor of the FBI working with tribal leaders to clean up the terrible crime mess on our Indian reservations.
Right on. I hope as Kristi Noem has first hand knowledge of this situation, she will be able in her new position to do domething to help them. She tried to do it as governor, and their officials banned her from the reservations. I imagine they are receiving kick backs for providing a good hiding place for the cartels.
This stuff couldn't happen without corruption. One of the many tragedies afflicting the Indians was how the government was able to buy off the "good" leaders. Ones like Crazy Horse or Sitting Bull couldn't be bought. It still goes on today.
Yes! That's a soap box I try to stay off of, but it's hard for me to do that sometimes. They finally let Leonard Peltier out of prison after serving FIFTY years for a crime they acquitted him of in about 1978.
It could have been so much better.
See “Wind River”
Was just going to post that. Watched it again Wed night. Also Paramount + series 1923 and 1883.
Taylor Sheridan, much respect for how he portrayed Native Americans in the movie and series.
Bravo, indeed.
Happy Friday!!! A great day ahead… especially in the Lord!
Uncle Juan,
Sounds wonderful 🌟 What’s going on today? I plan on doing a lot of yard work after walking my 🐶
Meet with my accountant…
Ugh, me too, Uncle Juan. Not looking forward to it.
I’ll keep you in my prayers 🙂
I wasn’t going to finish taxes until after 2 April 😆 you know, just in case. LOL Maybe next year, until then I will give to Cesar what is Cesar’s 😖
Looking forward to meeting with our broker to fund hubby's IRA. She's been quiet.
Our Natives deserve much better than Christine Grady.
Just what I thought too! Hope she refuses to go, and if she DOES go, that the Indians (tribal police) watch her like a hawk!
They'll be teaching her how to code.
They have been mistreated for so long, they may not know the difference.
Fauci's wife and others reassigned - "They’ll get snapped up by Big Pharma and be back to scamming the government in no time." Probably yes, and that is one more reason Big Pharma is an enemy of the people. Maybe Fauci himself will be reassigned - to a comfy prison cell.
Today is the anniversary of the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. I was a sophomore in high school at the time. My hometown of Alton Illinois saw businesses burned during the unrest. Ironically, Alton was the hometown of the "accused" killer James Earl Ray. He was just a patsy used by the FBI.
Relocate her to Alaska already.
Relocate her and the human cockroach to Gitmo. They were both deep and primary instigators in the crime against humanity.
Perfect place for both faucis. they are foul subhumans that like soros, would honor the earth if they all drop dead.
Please NO!!! Our leftys here would elevate her somehow.
Hell would be much more appropriate for her.
There’s a great episode on Haunted Cosmos podcast about MLK’s murder. I can’t remember the title of the episode, but it’s around the same time they discussed MK Ultra.
I love Haunted Cosmos! I heard the episode you describe and it was fascinating.
both faucis deserve a firing squad, nothing less.
As she said, “Yikes!”
"Why didn’t any other U.S. President ever try this before?" Because their names were Johnson, Ford, Carter, Bush x 2, Clinton, Obama & Biden; 8 x 0 = 0
I cut Kennedy, Nixon & Reagan some slack but they could have done more.
Whenever someone complains to me about Trump going too fast, or ‘using a sledgehammer instead of a scalpel’ I remind them that these things have needed to be done for at least 30 years. Any President could have chosen to improve the border/economy/tariffs/health, etc in their own way, BUT THEY DIDN’T. So at least we have someone who is trying to right the ship. They need to stop complaining and give his policies a chance to work.
You mean 60 years.... there, fixed it.
I did say ‘at least’. It depends on your age, it seems. I think all the problems started in the 60s, but my dad, who turns 93 this month, swears it started with Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Still, my point stands.
The older I get the clearer it becomes that this has been going on since 1913, before my parents were born.
My father was born in 1913.
Your Dad is right. That’s when the Federal (I isn’t) Reserve (it isn’t) Bank (it isn’t) was started. That’s when the Big Long Heist of taxpayer money began.
Exactly. Well stated.
your Dad is 100% spot on. God bless him.
He’s great. Lots of orthopedic issues but sharp as a tack mentally. And he loves politics and political history. Fascinating conversations. I’m so lucky to still have him.
your dad is right on this one.
Your dad is exactly right. And this is because he knows the history - due to his age if nothing else. For the most part, Americans are woefully ignorant of history.
1913:
...The Seventeenth Amendment (direct election of Senators - the final act of centralizing power in the Federal Gov't and gutting the Constitutional protection of the Sovereign States which began with Lincoln's War of Northern Aggression in 1861)
...The Federal Reserve Act signed into law by Pres Wilson which enslaved America to the international banking debt system
...The Sixteenth Amendment (income tax) which put the shackles of debt slavery upon each and every American in servitude to the international banking system.
🎯
It has to happen fast he only has 4 yrs. Maybe even only 2 if those that voted him in defect in 2026. Horrors! We don't need a repeat of Trump 1.0.
I wondered at Melania’s outfit at inauguration. It seemed very severe. At first it reminded me of an English schoolgirl’s outfit, ala’ Matilda. I loved her pale blue outfit and smiling face from the first inauguration, for which she was butchered in the press. Her face never smiled at this inauguration and the hat hid her beautiful eyes. She was wearing a military uniform, ready for battle! Well thought out.
It was very V for vendetta you ask me.
The look of a woman who had her underwear drawer rummaged by the FBI.
yes, she never smiled this time. warriors have no time for pleasantries.
Agree but I think the overriding motif was that of a Funeral Dress. The Inauguration was a funeral, the burial of the Biden Regime. Barron's whispered message to Biden is indicative of this. When Barron returned to his seat and whispered what he did to his mom, she smiled. That was the only time I saw her smile.
Clint Eastwood came to my mind....😉
Clinton sent jobs and factories offshore. That’s why we have to import so much.
China didn’t hold a gun to our heads to offshore jobs. The American industries did that. It’s their fault that we have a trade deficit. Richard Wolf explains at around 10 minutes in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=594yN8rxIJo
I don’t mean to spam comments with this link, but it’s fantastic to understand what is happening.
Yes, and Trump could’ve done some of this in his first term, too.
It felt like Trump was battling the cockroaches his entire first term. I'm still amazed at how much he WAS able to accomplish.
Everyday is like Christmas! Yes I voted for all of this. It needs to happen fast because there are still so many fighting against US, the legal citizens who voted for the change. I am disgusted by the smarmy swamp creatures in congress and the senate who think they know better and cannot be touched. They will all get theirs, we may not see it but no matter what they will stand in front of God for judgement and will not like the sentence they will be given. My God help unite and heal this nation
Ditto, ditto, ditto.
Line them up like bowling pins and knock them all down!
In 1996, Queen Pelosi herself was a fan of tariffs: https://youtu.be/LayOiPkvKBw
That clip of Pelosi brings to mind scenes from courtroom dramas where the crook on the stand is being asked, “Did you lie then or are you lying now?”
It just demonstrates that politicians have no moral compass or convictions but are willing to prostitute themselves for financial gain and power.
Hilarious! I just got my weekly update from my US representative, Tom Tiffany, who is the best, and he included that same Pelosi clip in his newsletter. He must be reading C&C comments.
That one went straight into my reference library. Going to put it in front of some liberals. Politics radicalizes and blinds most people with hatred. Thanks Roger.
What a great find! Thanks for sharing that link.
And boy, Pelosi sure has NOT aged well!
overdose of botox and restylane and a black soul, presuming she even has one.
Excellent clip!!
I hope iphones do go to $2,300.00. Most people won't pay that so maybe land-lines will make a resurgence; I never had a problem with land-lines.
Smartphones are government tracking devices.
Might as well wear an ankle bracelet like criminals wear.
At least ankle bracelets don't make you stupid and lazy too.
The Chinese Government calls it “your own personal spy.”
Ankle bracelet= Irish Rolex😂
Now that is funny!
I miss the old phone booths, myself. Calls used to cost a dime. Remember the expression, "It's on your dime?"
We have an old working phone booth!! Lights up when you close the door too.
That's great. In the house or in the garage? Can it transport you back in time, like the one in the movie, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure?
Kids today have no idea what they missed. I get tv ota & I have a dvr, all old shows like Highway Patrol, so phone booths still exist.
Conservative Contrarian,
If people went back to land-lines it would make driving one’s car much safer. I constantly see people weaving in an out of lanes. I even witnessed an accident at a stop light that would not have happened had the driver not been distracted. It’s ridiculous.
I almost got run over on a crosswalk by a dude on his phone driving an SUV. Missed me by inches.
Navyo,
OMG! How horrible. Glad you weren’t hurt! I get paranoid just walking my dog nowadays. I’ve had some come very close to us and I either get off the road (no sidewalks) or cross the street if I spot them early. I usually just walk in my neighborhood, but we have our speeders and young folks that lack common sense. I could tell you stories…
Lastly, too many drivers are so self-absorbed and don’t realize how dangerous a vehicle is to pedestrians. 🚶♀️
Cellphones have created a generation of distracted people who have lost spatial awareness. The number of times folks (usually younger) have walked straight into me, eyes down glued to the black mirror. I have the feeling more and more this is intentional.
My iPhone 6 still works fine. Some apps (Home Depot, etc) won't run on it. Who cares? Not me. Camera lens is so scratched I get a "soft focus" effect at no cost. Also, its tiny compared to newer ones.
Soft focus at no cost. 🤣🤣🤣🤣👍
I have a SE which is almost identical to my old 6, it's at least 3 y/o and still works pretty good, consider who the user is anyway. 🤠
my phone is SO old I charge it with a can tied to string ;-)
I had an I phone 6 until Jan. when I did a long facetime call and the battery would no longer hold a charge. I reluctantly went to my carrier Verizon and exchanged it for a Google Pixel 9 for free and $10 lower monthly bill. Maybe I should have tried the can tied to a string trick.
Many don’t know the battery can be replaced. I had mine replaced after the same issue, now it runs like a super phone, difficult to make it go under 50%. I’m a tightwad. Your mileage may vary.
My problem was when I got the phone it only had 12GB which is nothing and was used up quickly. I really didn't have anything to delete to free up space. Now with 256GB or there abouts I'm good. Google tracking me? So what. If they are that bored have at it. But I may look into getting a new battery for it. It took great pictures.
I think they all track us. Too much info can be as bad as not enough sometimes.
I'm on a iPhone 8. Just wind it up a bit and it keeps going.
I have a 15 yr old ZTE phone, no shit. Still holds a batt charge for 2 days. Paid $50 for it and my plan is $35 a month. All I do is call/text.
I really am a trog.
I still use my iPhone 4 for taking pictures because it doesn't have such a wide-angle lens. Then I up-rez the image and most of the time it comes out better than expected.
I kept my landline till my aged father died because he called me on it every Sunday night at 8pm. I kinda miss it too. On a landline, you can talk over each other. On a cell phone, only one voice can be heard at a time. In my family, we all always jumped in interrupting and over-talking each other.
I still have a landline.
Even have one in the basement that is rotary and hardwired. Still works.
But I have have to use the touch tone one upstairs to make calls so I can get the "Press one for English" nonsense.
We do too Kathleen! Our power went out a couple years ago for several hours and my husband wondered if the power was also out at his brothers a half mile down the road. I told him 'you may get a dial tone, but the rotary won't work because phones now have the tone and the system won't recognize the rotary clicks'. He said 'it will work'. and in my husbands typical style went to the basement, dialed the rotary phone and voila, it worked! I was shocked.
I have a rotary phone as well.......... but no one will hook it up out here in the badlands of west texas.... sigh... I still dial it just to hear the click click click of the return dial. it gives me peace.
Hilarious video of 17-year-olds trying to figure out how to work a rotary phone. (3:59)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OADXNGnJok
Sure, rub our noses in it, see if we care!!!!
😎
I haven't gone full Amish...yet.
Oh. Really?!
Really.
I have a cheap flip phone for when I am out, but it is just for emergencies. I keep it shut off so no one can call me when I am driving or grocery shopping.
Yup I have one of those too, I don't really use it otherwise. When I showed it to someone they called it a "burner phone or gangsta phone". We have an internet phone through the computer with less EMF. I also use paper and read hand held books! I don't mind being a dinosaur.
Kathleen, I hate being tied to the smart phone. These days, you can't make doctor appointments, line up a moving vanline, work with a financial advisor, or just about anything without the dang phone for things like multi-factor authentication, etc. You need an online account for EVERYTHING. Please tell me how you get buy without the smart phone.
I use a computer...for everything.
For ordering online, for accessing my VA benefits and contacting my doctor, or buying airline tickets, and for paying my credit card bills, and doing banking. Although I still do write checks for some things.
The multi-factor authentication (for Chase and the VA) requires a phone call to my landline where I get the 6 or 8 digit authorization code. So I have to be home to do that...which is a good thing because I sitting at my desk.
What would concern me is how everyone's life is on their phone. What happens if it is stolen?
Indeed. A neighbor of mine had her phone stolen by a pickpocket on the Paris Metro and it turned her life upside down. I'm with you, Kathleen - I would never use my phone for anything financial or having to do with health care. Checking email, sometimes, but otherwise I use it mainly for my appointment calendar and grocery list, completely offline. Mobile data turned off unless in active use.
Thank you for your service!
If cell phones suddenly stopped working, there would be utter chaos and destruction for people who rely solely on their phones. Can't call 911. Freaking out in the car because Waze cut off would send you into a panic.
Worse, no access to our daily dose of C&C! God forbid. ;-)
I had to look up what Waze is...I have paper maps in my car.
The lady at AAA was probably so happy to offload them to me because it cleared up space in her drawer.
love my paper maps!!!!
Being able to read them are becoming a lost art.
I love maps! In my 20’s to 40’s I had collections of them! I always had the updated Atlas in my Datsun 280Z. 🗺️
But it has my grocery list on it. 🤣😛
I use paper.
😁 I know how to spell. 🎉
Once when I was at the VA and just scheduled a follow up appointment, I wrote it down in my pocket calendar made from paper.
Someone who was watching me commented that it was nice to see a person still using paper.
Regarding books...I prefer a real book as opposed to digital. I have a couple of Kindles and found that reading wasn't as enjoyable and I felt like my reading comprehension wasn't as good. I love the feel of paper in my hands as I turn the page...and I love the smell of a new book.
I know it's true about paper book reading. My comprehension and memory has tumbled very noticably in the years I've been digital. 😭 It's killing brain cells. Why needs a brain in your head when you can hold your being in your hand. Nobody's head is attached anymore. 🤣😭
I had to shut off my parents landline ONLY BECAUSE China has ppl calling every fifteen minutes to sell a healthcare product to be charged to Medicare and you couldn't say no if you answered the phone and they couldn't NOT ANSWER the phone. 😡 Basement full of body braces. Carried to charity resale.
Maybe DOGE can head after SPAMMERS after they tackle the budget issues.
😡
😢
Land lines are not the answer for all areas. We live near a small town in OK and our land line was constantly noisy or going dead completely. We finally gave up and had it disconnected.
I have a friend who has a landline and a cell. He had to keep the landline because his cell doesn't get great reception. Apparently he is in some sort of dead zone for the cell.
This!! So mad. It wasn't worth it to the company to keep the mice out, and this the 21st century!!
I want a landline back as well. I looked into it and the companies offering a "landline" are really just WiFi. It's lame. The only time my phone didn't work before was because the cat knocked it over so the busy signal would be for a while.
I buy a burner phone from a shopping channel every couple of years. My only expense after purchase is adding on another year service and additional texts, $5 for 1K every month or so. Currently using a Samsung. Does everything my family that use iPhones does.
Funny how the tariffs on China are affecting American businesses. They are over there because they didn’t want to pay American workers a living wage. Well if this hits their bottom line of profits then lol.
"The useless, flatlined media is decrying Trump’s moves as reckless, ill-advised, and poorly thought-out, like he just dreamed it all up Monday after eating a bad taco, but the truth (as usual) is the exact opposite."
After all, everyone knows TUESDAY is the day to eat tacos.
They never saw this coming. And now, they’re all out of Get Out of Jail Free cards.
💥
what did you expect? They speak for the 1 in 5 who own and buy individual stocks.
Trump is working on behalf of Main Street, not Wall Street. They are the only folk complaining.
they are the only ones with microphones called Mainstream media. And I am noticing so many A.I. bots here swarming truth channels like C&C...... the more the resistance the more you may know you are behind the righteous cause. CARRY ON YOU WARRIORS!
My dog likes tacos on Tuesday.
Yeah but I sure wouldn't want to pick up his poop on Wednesday!💩
Amen!
It goes far beyond media too. For example the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) in today's blog are insulting RFK and the Trump admin for the cuts to the NIH, FDA etc. and are pushing the agenda of the last 4 years with bloated govt and pushing jabs for every creature on earth. They are so woke and part of the Industrial Medical Complex. Anyone with pets, know vets are mostly blue pilled so consider working with a holistic/functional/integrative vet as they are not jab happy and try to not use big pharma as much as possible. So much better than conventional GP vets. Big pharma is coming after our pets big time as there is a lot of $$$$$$$$$ in the pet industry. Make sure you are vetting (excuse the pun) your vet well as many are woke, uninformed and believe in every jab for every pet.
And Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti day, Anthonyyyyyy!
Ah, a blast back to my past. Boston, the way it used to be, before forced busing ruined the ethnic neighborhoods.
Once again Jeff provides top notch analysis but some good giggles, thank you.
I was reading today's Coffee and Covid to my husband. I was laughing so hard, I was in tears. It was hilarious! Medicine for the soul!
Not sure if this is true, but this segment says Kennedy and Trump are going after chemtrails
https://x.com/tpvsean/status/1906685475470868889?s=12&fbclid=IwY2xjawJZi-JleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHX0Og07wpYo4linddD_6SIfv5gv9CavhqfpDEsLZH0rdS52yDyD99yTz2g_aem_dBbzQY2ZVOML7lIOPgIs9A
Let God run the environment, but be a good steward and don’t recklessly pollute.
God, help us, I truly hope so! It is so bad here in California that they have a real hard time predicting the day to day weather. And it's disgusting when the day starts with beautiful blue skies and end with ugly milky white ones.
Same here in Michigan. The skies are always silvery grey.
That's not the trails. That's the marxist politicians exhaling.
It's bad here in the UK.
The skies have been full of chemtrails the last few days as they get ready to amplify the storm system coming over mid-America this weekend. TWC is already predicting unprecedented violent weather.
And don't even tell me those lying TWC experts haven't seen the chemtrails!
Do you think it's because they're spraying crops or weather modification?
both
I don’t know if it’s true but I hope so.
Not killing babies?
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/tucker-carlson-horrified-dr-mary-talley-bowden-drops-chilling-covid-statistic
saw this interview. what an eye opener.
She does not mention that only 10% of cases reported to VAERS.
I thought I heard her mention that quickly. Perhaps it was when she was on VSRF's Rumble interview.
This came out in Feb. Haven't seen any followup....................................
https://rumble.com/v6pmrv3-trump-orders-fbi-to-investigate-bill-gates-for-blitzing-america-with-toxic-.html
Here is Politico https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/25/climate/state-bills-chemtrails-geoengineering-ban/index.html
Florida has HB477 https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2025/477
Well, if it is in fact a DOD program, Trump can shut it down immediately.....still waiting....
I can't find evidence other than what you posted and reprints of it. Kennedy has made public statements about spraying, however.
Checked on it and came up with this disqualifying the posthttps://www.techarp.com/politics/trump-chemtrails-task-force-fact-check/
Hmmm... That is disappointing but did anyone "fact-check" the fact check?
Thank you for the link Kathy. Shared. Nuremberg 2.0 🙏
About time and thank God.
A thought:
The acts of your life don't make you a Christian, it is why you do the acts of your life that make you a Christian; or not.
I'd suggest that it is God's grace that "makes" one a Christian. The good acts follow as the manifestation of that grace, bringing honor to God. Works are the result of, not the cause of, salvation.
Well said. Another way is, the fruits of the Holy Spirit thriving in the heart of a Christian. A Christian with faith alone and no works is weak. But the works don’t make him a Christian.
All ponies are horses, but not all horses are ponies...
"You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only." —James 2:24
And there is no conflict between this passage from James and Ephesians 2:8, quoted in this comment thread by Robin Greer!
From Galatians 2:20 -- "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."
The works are done in Him, and we credit Him! Like the tax collector and not the Pharisee, we have no self-righteousness. There are those who would call one a Pharisee for preaching righteousness. These don't understand the gospel.
Preaching to the choir, TriTorch, for the sake of any readers of this thread.
Exactly!
Exactly, His Grace is why.
Works are the fruit not the root. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Without transformation through sanctification it’s not possible to do any good “works”
Jesus was asked “what must we do to be doing the works of God” He replied, “this is the work of God that you believe on the One whom He has sent”
Believing is hard spiritual work.
Whence Mark 9:24 ... "I believe; help my unbelief."
I have never suffered from unbelief, thank God. No matter what, He is there, always and forever.
I love that verse so much.
As it should be for it offers the ultimate reward.
Thank you.
Bravo....